hdbfiaeff
by derpderpderpderpderpderp
Summary: fuieajfiaue
1. Chapter 1

"Fuck." Only a few hours ago, Tayuya and her team had been making a mad dash towards Orochimaru's lair to deliver Konoha's precious Uchiha. Only an hour ago, she'd been just about the kill the pineapple-headed chuunin of the Leaf. That is until the sand bitch and her fucking weasel buried her under nearly an entire forest of trees.

"Fucking shit this hurts." Tayuya smiled grimly despite her pain, almost expecting Jirobou to chide her for her foul langauge. They were all dead. Sakon, Ukon, Kidomaru, Jirobou, Kimimarou; she'd felt it when each of them died. She didn't consider them friends, but they were all the foul mouthed sound nin had. All for the precious Uchiha.

"Faggot ass prettyboy." She muttered. Her eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden, and she knew she'd be joining her team shortly in hell. "Too bad I have go out like a pussy." Tayuya's eyes slid shut, ready to accept the cold embrace of death.

"Oi, Kakashi." Pakkun glanced back to make sure his summoner was paying attention. The jounin was currently carrying Gohan on his back, followed by two Konoha medic nin. Gohan had failed to bring back his teammate, and his injuries were extensive; even for the demon vessel.

"Yes, Pakkun?" The summoned dog pointed a paw towards his right.

"There's someone still alive over there." Kakashi cast a lazy glance towards the dog.

"Is it one of ours?" Pakkun shook his head.

"I can't tell from here. We'll have to get closer." The copy-nin shrugged.

"We should at least check it out." He motioned for the medic nin to follow him towards the scent. Ten minutes later, they were standing in front of what used to be a fairly large area of forestry. It seemed as though something had leveled everything within a 100 yard radius of where they stood.

"Kakashi." The jounin nodded and jumped over to where his summon was sniffing around. "It's a girl." She was trapped under a large group of trees; one crushing her right arm, and several over her legs and torso. Kakashi crouched down next to Pakkun.

"She's with the Sound. Her clothes are similar to the ones Orochimaru wore when he attacked the village." The dog grunted.

"So do we just leave her here?"

"No, let's take her in. Maybe Ibiki can get something out of her about Orochimaru's next move." He trailed a lazy eye over the fallen trees. "Everyone stand back." He handed Gohan to one of the medic nin and made a few handseals. "Raikiri!" The jounin yelled, thrusting his chakra infused palm into the trees. They were quickly split and tossed aside, allowing them to reach the fallen kunoichi. One of the medic nin performed a quick examination on the unconcious girl.

"She's still alive, but we have to hurry up and get her back to Konoha. There's not much we can do for her here." Sighing loudly, Kakashi picked the girl up bridal style.

"Let's Go."

'It's freaking cold in here.' That's the first thought that went through Son Gohan's head as he awoke from his slumber. He groggily rolled out of bed to adjust the thermostat, only for his feet to touch the cold, hard tile of the hospital room instead of the warm, soft carpet of his bedroom. "What the hell?!" He yelped, quickly jumping back onto his bed. After a few seconds of panic, he quickly realized where he was. White, impersonal ceilings? Check. Cold, hard tile floors? Check. The constant buzzing and whirring of hospital machinery? Check.

He was in the Konoha General Hospital.

The genin sighed and cautiously stepped back onto the floor. 'No use sticking around here, the bastard fox has already healed everything.' he thought to himself. Gohan poked his head out of the door to see if anyone was around before stepping out of the room and making his way down the hall. Before he could reach the staircase that led to his freedom, a small cough was heard from behind him. He nervously turned around to see the Godaime Hokage staring darkly down at him.

"Gohan-kun? What are you doing out of your room?" She questioned in a falsely sweet voice.

"I was...er...gotta go!" The genin yelled before attempting to dash down the stairs and out of the hospital. Unfortunately, he didn't count on a masked ANBU suddenly appearing in front of him and knocking him onto his backside. Tsunade grinned evily before gripping the boy by the back of his hospital gown and dragging him down the hallway...in the opposite direction of his room. Gohan gulped nervously. "Wh-where are we going?"

"Someplace where I can be sure you'll never escape." She answered with a small bit of evil joy in her voice. Stopping suddenly, she threw open the door to an ANBU guarded room and tossed him inside. The Hokage then turned to the ANBU stationed at the door. "Make sure he stays in this room unless I or Shizune say otherwise. Got it?" The ANBU nodded as Tsunade turned on her heel and walked away. "Have fun with your new roommate, Gohan!" She yelled over her shoulder. The demi-saiyan grumbled as he picked himself off the floor.

"Damn hag, sticking me in a hospital room with..." His eyes trailed over to the other occupant of the room, curious as to who he'd be spending the next few days or so with. The boy's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he got a good look at his roommate. Her long red hair was almost impossible to see under the bandages covering her head, and the large cast encasing her right arm and legs made her look almost like a mummy. However, it was hard to forget the scowl that seemed to permanently mar the girl's face.

"YOU!" He yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his roommate. The girl in question turned away from the window to glare at the demi-saiyan. What he saw stunned him. Her face was still scrunched up into a scowl, but it lacked any of the fire or malice that was present when they first met in the forest. Calming down a bit, Gohan shook his head in disbelief.

"What are you doing here?!" Instead of answering, the girl turned back to the window. Gohan narrowed his eyes and took a step closer.

"Oi! Say something!" The girl continued to ignore the genin, much to his chagrin. Fed up, he hopped onto her bed and straddled her bandaged legs. "What the hell's your problem?!" The girl snapped her head away from the window and leaned forward to get into his face.

"You want to know what my fucking problem is? Huh?!" Tayuya screamed, struggling against the cast covering her lower body. "I was beaten by a pineapple-headed faggot and his whore of a girlfriend, buried under fifty fucking tons of forestry, told I'd never fucking walk again, and now I have to deal with a loud mouthed shithead who thinks orange is a normal color for a ninja!" Her breathing was labored by the time she finished her rant, and her good arm was grabbing the front of Gohan's hospital gown for emphasis. Unfortunately for both of them, the Hokage chose that moment to slam open the door and stroll inside.

"What the hell is going on in here?! I can hear you two screaming all the way down the hall!" Tsunade yelled, her face pink with rage. Her expression gradually changed from anger to one of mild amusement. "You work fast, don't you kiddo?" Her grin widened as she watched the genin yelp in horror and fall headfirst onto the floor. Tayuya snorted in mild amusement.

"Baka."

"Y-you shut up! It's your fault I fell in the first place!" Gohan growled, rubbing the growing lump on his head. The sound nin's eyes widened in disbelief.

"My fault?! Don't fucking blame me for your utter lack of coordination, dipshit!"

"Says the cripple..."

"WHAT?!"

Throughout the exchange, the hokage's grin grew into a full blown smile. Before she'd been thrown into a room with Gohan, the girl had barely spoken more than two words to anyone. Those two words were 'Fuck' and 'You.' Amazingly enough, she was willingly speaking to the number one surprising ninja. Granted, she was screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs, but it was better than the weak glares she usually sent towards everyone. A plan began to form in her mind as she watched Tayuya bop the genin upside his head with her good hand. If things went the way she planned, she might even be able to kill two birds with one stone! Smiling triumphantly, she schooled her face into an angry expression.

"QUIET!"

Both teens quickly shut their mouths. Satisfied, she continued.

"I don't care who started what, or what the hell happened. You." She said, pointing at Gohan. "Get in bed." The genin quickly scrambled to his own bed, shooting a quick glare to his roommate. "You. Don't talk him." She said, pointing at the glaring red head.

"I ain't one of your damn grunts, Hokage-_sama_," Tayuya snarled, adding sarcastic emphasis to her title. "I'll do whatever I damn well please, and there ain't shit you can do about it." The older woman grinned mischievously.

"Oh? Well, as of now, you are hereby instated as a genin of the Leaf. Congratulations." Tayuya's eyes widened in disbelief.

"W-what the fuck?!" She sputtered, jaw nearly reaching the bed. Gohan had a similar look on his face.

"Have you finally gone senile, Baa-chan?!"

"My legs are fucked up! How can I be a ninja with fucked up legs?!"

"She's the enemy! This bitch was one of the bastards who tried to kidnap Sasuke!"

"I won't do it! There's no way I'll join you shitty rats or live in your faggot-infested village! I'd rather die first!"

Grinning on the inside, Tsunade slammed her foot down onto the floor. The whole hospital seemed to shake, and a few screams of bloody murder were heard from the floor below. "Listen up, brats!" She growled, screwing her face up into the angriest face she could manage. "What I say goes! Besides, you don't need legs to work at the Academy."

The room went dead silent.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

Gohan immediately began laughing at the grief-stricken face of the former sound nin. Predicting this, Tsunade grinned.

"And you will be her escort."

This time, Gohan's face paled in disbelief. "Nani?! But I have to train to bring Sasuke back!" The hokage shrugged with indifference.

"Oh well. Looks like the Uchiha is screwed, then." Sighed the older blonde. Tayuya cracked a small smile.

"Literally." Her smile became a giggle, and before long, she was cackling wildly at the vivid images that passed through her mind. The demi-saiyan genin looked confused for a few seconds before his face contorted in horror.

"EWWWWW!" While both genin were occupied with their own amusing/sickening thoughts, Tsunade took the chance to slowly slip out of the room. Not long after, Tayuya stopped laughing long enough to wipe a stray tear from the corner of her eye. She looked around the room and noticed the missing presence of the hokage.

"Oi, where'd the bimbo go?"

Outside of the genins' room, the hokage hummed a happy tune to herself. Just as she was about to head down the stairs, a blur of pink appeared from her right.

"Tsunade-sama! Gohan's gone! He's-"

"In room 223. You should pay him a visit. He needs all the support he can get right now." She said, chuckling lightly. The genin tilted her head in curiousity before nodding and running off toward her teammate's new room. Oh, this was going to be good.

"GOHAN! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Sakura yelled, throwing the door open. Both occupants stared in surprise at the pink-haired genin.

"S...Sakura-chan..." Gohan stammered, lowering his head to stare at his hands. He bit his lip before speaking again. "I'm sorry. I didn't keep my promise. I couldn't bring Sasuke back." His teammate shook her head and smiled weakly.

"Don't worry about it, okay Gohan? Next time...next time we'll do it together!" Gohan snapped his head up in shock before a small smile stretched his way on to his face. Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by the other occupant of the small hospital room.

"Pfft. There's no way you fuckwads could ever hope to match Orochimaru in battle. That bastard's freakin' invincible!" Sakura glared at the girl, just now noticing that there was someone else in the room with them.

"Oh? And how would you know that?" Tayuya chuckled pitifully to herself.

"I used to se-" Gohan sprang up and clamped his hand over the former sound nin's mouth. Shortly after, she took a large bite out of the offending appendage.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Tayuya snorted in indignation.

"Serves you right, jerk." While the demi-saiyan nursed his currently throbbing hand, his teammate shook her head and turned towards the door.

"I don't know who you are, but Gohan and I will bring Sasuke-kun back." She glanced back at the foulmouthed genin with contempt. "Believe it." She slammed the door on her way out, leaving both patients in mild shock. Tayuya blinked a few times before turning back to the window. The sun would be setting soon, and she'd finally be able to get some sleep after a somewhat stressful day.

"Oi!" Of course, she spoke too soon.

"What the hell do you want?" Gohan scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. In all of the chaos that had ensued within the last couple of hours, he'd forgotten to ask.

"Ah...er...what's your name?" Tayuya narrowed her eyes.

"Why the fuck should I tell you?"

"Hey, I don't care either, but if I'm going to be wheeling you around all day I'd at least like to know the name of the person who's stopping me from training!" Tayuya snorted and turned back towards the window. After a few seconds of silence, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"...Tayuya." The demi-saiyan genin grinned a bit at his roommate.

"Uzamaki Gohan. The man who's going to become the Hokage."

Tsunade sat at her desk, furiously signing and stamping her approval on a large stack of forms sitting on the edge of her desk. It was well past ten, and she'd usually be passed out in a drunken stupor by now. However, thanks to her 'genius' plan, she was stuck alone in the brightly illuminated office, working harder than she ever had in her two months of being the hokage. 'Kami, what the hell was I thinking?' she thought, sighing as she signed off on another release form. 'Turning a ninja from an enemy village into one of our own? I must be losing my mind.' Most of her complaining was due to the paperwork required to perform such an action. Not only did she have to instate Tayuya as a genin of the Leaf, but she also had to drop all charges against her for the attempted kidnap of Sasuke and the assisted murder of the Sandaime Hokage. She could only hope that the council would see her reasoning. Surely a ninja of the Leaf would give up information if their home was in danger of attack, right? Pairing the girl up with Gohan would only speed up the process. He had a certain knack for getting people to see things his way.

"Tsunade-sama! I thought you finished all of your paperwork for the week?" Shizune asked, startling the older woman out of her thoughts.

"Oh, uhm...just catching up on a few things I missed last week. Go on home, I'll be there soon." Shizune narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Godaime Hokage. She never willingly did paperwork, and judging by her disheveled appearance, she'd be working for Kami knows how long. Shuffling closer to her mentor, she attempted to take a look at the large stack of papers strewn about on the large oak desk.

"What's this? You're adding a new ninja to the ranks? Who?" She asked, trying to read the name haphazardly scribbled on the form. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she realized who it was. "Tsunada-sama! You can't be serious! Are you aware of what you're trying to do?!" The hokage rubbed her temples, absentmindedly reaching for her hidden bottle of sake.

"Yes, I'm serious, and yes, I know what I'm doing. You have to trust me." Her apprentice stared at her with doubt. Sighing, she continued. "I paired her up with Gohan-kun. You've seen what he can do for people; I doubt this girl will be any different. She knows the location, layout, and overall population of the Sound village, how strong their shinobi as a whole are, and maybe even what Orochimaru has planned in the near future. Can we really afford to pass this chance up?" Shizune hung her head in defeat.

"I...I guess not. I still don't like it, though. What if it doesn't work? What if she hurts Gohan-kun in the process?" Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. It was just like her apprentice to look for the bad in everything.

"Don't be so pessimistic. Everything will work out in the end, you'll see." The young medic-nin bit her lip in worry.

"I hope you're right, Tsunade-sama."

"Gohan?" A young man poked his head into the room. A large scar was visible across his nose, and his long brown hair was bound into a tight ponytail on the top of his head. Umino Iruka had just returned from his mission early that morning and arrived at the hospital just as visiting hours began. Of course, he made a quick stop at a certain ramen stand; a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the genin in question.

"Iruka-sensei!" A yellow blur tackled him around the waist, nearly spilling the contents of the small brown bag in his hand. "Is that for me?" He asked, eyes wide and shining. His former teacher couldn't help but to laugh at his childish antics.

"Sure is! I figured you'd be tired of the hospital food by now. Though it's gotten better since Tsunade-sama arrived, it still has a slightly chalky taste." A snort was heard from the other side of the hospital curtain.

"You can say that again." Iruka lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Gohan, you have a roommate?" The genin stopped drooling and glanced towards the curtain separating him from the recently instated genin.

"Oh, yeah. That's just Tayuya. Me and her are gonna be helping out at the Academy for a while." Iruka shook his head.

"She and I. I swear, they should add an extra year to teach you all more than basic math and grammar. You never know when it could come in handy on a mission." The man gave the bag to an eager Gohan, watching as he immediately pulled the plastic cover off of the container and dug in with the wooden chopsticks provided. After inhaling a sizable amount, he sighed and grinned widely.

"Ahh, I forgot just how good Ichiraku's could be!" Iruka chuckled and patted the boy on the head. The teacher's face suddenly turned deathly serious as he seated himself on a stray chair sitting near the bed.

"Gohan, are you alright?" Noticing his serious tone, the spikey haired boy stopped slurping the noodles long enough to crack a wide grin.

"I'm fine, Iruka-sensei. I heal really fast, so I should be out of here by tomorrow." Iruka nodded, satisfied with his answer.

"I'm glad. I'd better get going, I have quite a few tests to grade before class tomorrow. See you soon!" He said, waving on his way out. Gohan simply nodded and finished drinking down the ramen's broth.

"So who was that fucker? Your jounin-sensei or somethin? Sounds like a weakass." She asked, pulling back the curtain with her good arm. Gohan scowled at her.

"Take that back! Iruka-sensei's stronger than you'll ever be!" He yelled, dropping the empty bowl onto the white tiled floor below. Tayuya's normal scowl deepened in response.

"The fuck I will! What're you gonna do, kick my ass and make me take it back?!" She snarled. 'Who the hell does this guy think he is, ordering me around like I'm some punkass Leaf shinobi.'

"You're just jealous because you don't have anyone who cares about you at all!" He shouted, the words flying out of his mouth before he could think. As soon as he said them, he immediately regretted it. Tayuya's eyes were wide with shock, and her jaw hung limply at the hinges. She soon recovered and turned her head away from him.

"At least you're not the spineless fucker I thought you were." Tayuya joked, her voice carrying a slight waver. 'Damnit! Why the hell am I showing weakness? It must be this shit they're feeding me; it's bad enough to make anyone cry' she reasoned to herself. Gohan stared at her for a few more minutes before settling down into his bed. He was still a bit tired from his fight with Sasuke, even if he did heal faster than humanly possible. He'd apologize later; as soon as he woke up.

Melody of the Fox

**Disclaimer: Don't own Gohan.**

**Chapter 2**

The next day, Gohan and Tayuya stood in front of the Hokage's desk. Or rather, Gohan stood and Tayuya sat in a wheelchair next to him. He played with the zipper on his orange jumpsuit, struggling to zip it up to his chin. He only had two more at home, and they all felt a bit tight since his fight with his former teammate. Tayuya wore simple black ninja pants and a dark blue long sleeved shirt. The bandages on her head and left arm were still present, but she'd been able to get out of her leg casts in favor of a couple of small metal braces. The hokage finished signing off on one last sheet of paper before leaning back in her chair.

"Finally! That's the last of them." She reached into her drawer and tossed a Leaf hitai-ate to Tayuya, who deftly caught it with her left hand. "Congratulations, you're an official genin of Konoha. By wearing this headband, you acknowledge that you will protect this village and the people in it with your life, blah, blah, blah. Do you accept?" Tayuya cocked an eyebrow at the demi-saiyan.

"Do I have a choice?" She asked, fingering the thick cloth of the headband. Tsunade nodded.

"Actually, you do. You can either become a Konoha ninja or I can turn you over to Morino Ibiki for interrogation." She smirked inwardly. She was bluffing, but they didn't need to know that. Gohan's face visibly paled in recognition of the name. Though he hated to admit it, the scarred special jounin had quite an effect on him.

"Ah...Tayuya, I think you should just accept." He whispered. The girl eyed him strangely, noticing the slightly nervous look on his face. "He's...he's a really scary guy." Instead of arguing, she turned back to the godaime and nodded.

"Fine, but I ain't gonna like it." She lifted the headband towards her escort expectantly. He stared at the headband in confusion, an action which quickly annoyed his red haired companion. "Put it on me dipshit! I only got one arm!"

"Shut up! I'm not psychic, geez." He grabbed the headband and move to put it on her forehead before pausing. "Where do you want it?" She titled her head in thought.

"Tie it around my neck." The demi-saiyan grunted and tied the cloth into a loose knot around her neck.

"Happy?"

"Fuck no."

"Tch, not even a thank you..." The fifth slammed her fist down onto the desk, effectively quieting the teens down.

"Listen up!" She bellowed, causing Gohan to flinch. "Both of you are to report to room 23 at the Academy. I've arranged for one of the chuunin teachers there to assign you a few tasks to keep you busy." Tayuya frowned deeply in response.

"Yeah, one problem. My. Fucking. Legs. Don't. WORK." Tsunade smirked.

"I've informed them of your condition, so whatever they set up won't require a whole lot of movement. If there's nothing else, get out of my sight." She drawled, waving them off. Grudgingly, Gohan grabbed the handles of his new teammate's wheelchair and began to push her towards the door. He accidentally pushed her legs into the door frame, earning himself a hard elbow in the side.

"Watch where you're going, dipshit!"

"Yes, Tayuya-_hime_."

"S-Shut up and push!" Lucky for her, neither of the genin turned around to see the mile wide grin Tsunade had on her face.

_'Part one of operation "Skin Orochimaru's scrawny ass" complete.'_

They were everywhere. Laughing, taunting, torturing. Little horns protruded from their large melon-shaped heads, and large globs of blood clung to their faces as if they had just eaten twenty shinobi alive right before they had arrived. At least that's what Tayuya saw when nearly a dozen Kindergartners swarmed her as soon she had appeared through the door of room 23.

"Read us a story!"

"Wanna play dress up?!"

"Hey! What's wrong with your legs?"

"Can I sit in your lap?"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Tayuya sat mortified amongst the large group of five year olds. When the hokage mentioned they would be working at the Academy, she assumed they would be filing papers or showing ten year olds how to throw a kunai. Never in a million years would she have expected something as inhumane as this. She glanced up at Gohan and was glad to see that he was equally shocked. At least she could be sure that he wasn't in on this. The chuunin who had shown them the room snickered slightly at their expressions before turning and making a mad dash down the hallway.

"Have fun! They really like stories!" He yelled over his shoulder, turning a corner at record breaking speed.

_'That has to be some kind of escape jutsu...'_ Gohan thought as he watched the shinobi flee from the classroom. A slight tug of his pants snapped him from his thoughts.

"Ne, Onee-chan, are you our new sensei?" The genin glanced down to see a sickly brown haired boy staring up at him with large, hopeful eyes.

"I...uh...y-yes?" A large chorus of cheers went throughout the room. A few of the toddlers darted off to grab books, blankets, and pillows, much to the genin's confusion. It wasn't until the same little boy held up a large book to Tayuya that they understood. Her eyes widened and she began to shake her head ferociously.

"No! Not a fucking chance in hell!" She screamed, attempting to hop out of her chair and crawl towards the door. Unfortunately, a little girl had somehow made her way into the genin's lap, foiling her escape plan. Her escort snickered and waved an admonishing finger in front of her face.

"Watch your language, Tayuya-_sensei_. There are children in the room." She growled and practically snatched the book from the little boy, only further amusing the spikey-haired boy; who was suspiciously three steps closer to the door. Tayuya narrowed her eyes and smirked.

"Where are you going, Gohan-_sensei_? I'm going to need someone to turn the pages for me. I only have one arm, after all." She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, using his own sarcasm against him. Realizing he'd been caught, Gohan groaned and sat down in the empty chair closest to her. Grinning to herself at the small victory, she turned to read the title of the book in her hand.

"The Princess and the Fox." The girl glanced up to see that every set of eyes in the classroom was watching her intently. Though it was a little unnerving, she was happy to see that they were at least being quiet. When they were quiet, she didn't have the incredibly powerful urge to roast them over a large flaming pit of charcoal. Alive. Gohan reached over and turned the cover so that she could continue. "Once upon a time, there was a Princess who lived in a beautiful castle. Many of the animals loved her, but none of them loved her more than her friend the fox." She picked the book up to show the children the pictures before turning to the next page herself.

"Hey! You don't need me to turn the pages for you!" Gohan yelped, shooting up from his chair. Tayuya grinned.

"Deception is one of the tricks to being a ninja, isn't it? Now sit down and let me continue." Looking back down at the book, she continued. "One day, the Princess decided to visit her friend the Wizard." The girl glanced up to make sure that Gohan was still in the room. She noticed with some surprise that he wasn't in his seat anymore; he was sitting on the large blanket with the toddlers, a few of them leaning against him as they listened to the story.

"What happened next, Tayuya-sensei?" the girl in her lap asked, snuggling back against her.

_'What the fuck?'_ The genin asked herself, blinking in surprise at the foreign feeling. Deciding it wasn't completely uncomfortable, she continued on with the story. "The forest was thick and dangerous, with giant weasels, frogs, and snakes at every turn. But the princess wasn't afraid; she knew her friend the fox was watching her."

Tayuya snorted. _'Who writes this shit?'_ "After walking for awhile, she came upon a giant white snake. _'Where are you going, little girl?'_ The snake boomed, staring with big yellow eyes at the princess." A shudder went through her as she absentmindedly fingered her cursed seal, an action which didn't go unnoticed by Gohan. "But the princess wasn't afraid; She knew her friend the fox was watching her. The princess stood up straight and looked the snake in the eye. _'I'm going to visit my friend the Wizard, Orochi-san.'_ She said, unaware that she was being hypnotized by the snake's big yellow eyes."

A gasp went through the crowd of toddlers, the loudest of all coming from her escort. She fought to keep a smirk from breaking out onto her face at their expressions. Even she had to admit that she was really starting to enjoy having all of the attention focused on herself for once. "The big white snaked smiled evily and slithered his way over to the princess. _'Well, princessss...'_ the snake hissed, wrapping himself around her. _'Allow me to esssscort you there.'_ With the princess wrapped in his slimy skin, the big white snake headed for his lair. Just as he was about to enter his home, a golden fox appeared and..." Tayuya trailed off, glancing up at the clock. "...that's the end of storytime!" The children all stared at her in disbelief.

"NANI?!"

"You can't just end it there!"

"What happened to the princess?"

"Did the giant snake eat her?"

"C'mon Tayuya-sensei, finish the story!"

Tayuya grinned maliciously to herself. Though it wasn't quite as entertaining as watching the little demons roast, it would have to do; for now. Gohan stood up and grinned. "She's right, guys. It's snack time!" Their disappointment forgotten, the toddlers all hopped up and ran to their little plastic tables and chairs. After setting down a few cookies and a carton of milk in front of each of the children, the genin inched their way towards the door; only to back into the same sickly little boy from before. His eyes were wide and his lips were puffed up into a small pout.

"You'll come back and finish the story, won't you Tayuya-sensei?"

The girl blinked and forced a small smile onto her face. "Uhm.. sure..."

"Jin!"

"...Jin." Seemingly satisfied, the boy bounced off towards the others. Not wanting to risk being stopped again, Gohan grabbed her wheelchair and practically raced down the hall and out of the academy, not stopping until he was well into the residential district of Konoha. After receiving another sharp jab in the ribs from Tayuya, he finally slowed his pace down to a walk.

"So...did you enjoy storytime?" Gohan asked, stepping back far enough to avoid another jab from the irate redhead.

"What the fuck do you think? Those little fuckwits almost drove me mad!"

"Looked like you were getting into it to me."

"I was not!"

"Are you sure, Princessss?" He asked, imitating a voice she'd done previously. The girl blushed and stared forward.

"Just shut up and push, dipshit." The spikey-haired genin laughed and continued on down the street. They walked on in silence until she cleared her throat. "Hey, Gohan..."

"Eh?"

"I uh...wanted to apologize. For the shit I said about your teacher yesterday." Gohan blinked in surprise. He'd only known her for a couple of days, but he didn't think the word 'apologize' was even in her vocabulary.

"Oh..." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I have to say I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. It...it wasn't right." She nodded and shrugged.

"Fine, we're even then. Don't get all sentimental and shit on me. So where the hell're we going now?"

"Well, _you're_ going back to the hospital._ I'm _going to train so that I can bring Sasuke back."

"What? Oh, fuck no! You're taking me with you!" He stopped in surprise.

"Nani? For what! You'll just get in my way!"

"There ain't no way in hell I'm gonna stay cooped up in that shithole of a hospital all day while you get to run around in the motherfucking sun!" By this time, a small crowd of civilians had gathered around the teens, whispering amongst themselves. "And just what the fuck are you cocksuckers looking at?!" The crowd quickly dispersed, though there was no shortage of glares or snide comments thrown her way.

"Geez, you guys are making a scene." A lazy voice said from behind them. Gohan turned in surprise.

"Shikamaru! How's Chouji? Neji? Kiba? Lee?" He asked, reprimanding himself for not asking about them earlier. Though, he couldn't be blamed when all of his thoughts were focused on his temporary teammate and Sasuke.

"They're all fine. Chouji and Neji got the worst of it, though." He said, grimacing slightly.

"It wasn't your fault. You did the best you could." Shikamaru nodded and glanced at the girl currently glaring at him from her wheelchair.

"Oi, you lived, huh? I have to admit, I'm more than a little surprised. I didn't think anyone could survive a blast like that." Tayuya glowered dangerously at the chuunin.

"I ain't weak like you shitty Leaf ninja."

"But aren't you one too?" He asked, taking notice of her headband. "How did you become a Leaf ninja anyway?"

"Tch, easy. You faggots are so fucking weak that the hokage herself had me instated to help you all out. Watch your back, bitch, 'cause I'm coming for your ass." She smirked up at him, practically daring him to reply.

"...even though you can't use your legs. Right." He continued on past Gohan and a fuming Tayuya. "Later, Gohan, Troublesome woman." Gohan snickered at her expression.

"He's right, you know. You can't use your legs. Back to the hospital!"

"Fuck. You."

Gohan took a deep breath, focusing himself on the log in front of him. It slowly began to distort and shape into Orochimaru; the perfect target to take his anger out on. Lashing out with right hook, he rolled to his left and followed it up with a perfectly executed roundhouse. He then flipped over his target and gave it a strong donkey kick. The wood splintered slightly under the pressure, much to his delight. Punching the log a dozen times in succesion, he performed a perfect back hand spring and landed thirty feet away, taking deep breaths of air. All of this happened in a span of around five seconds.

"You suck!" A voice yelled from behind him. The demi-saiyan turned around and flipped the person off.

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm training!"

"Oh, is that what you're doing? I thought you were doing the fucking chicken dance or something." Gohan's eye twitched in anger. He was already regretting not leaving her at the hospital.

"Okay, Tayuya-_sensei_, why don't you give me a few pointers?" He snapped his fingers in mock realization. "Ooh, that's right! You can't because you're stuck in a fucking wheelchair!" Gohan yelled, feeling a bit of the Kyuubi's chakra trying to slip out of him. Tayuya blinked. Just when she thought he was incapable of getting truly upset, he pulls a stunt like this. Strangely enough, she didn't get the smug satisfaction she usually got from making others angry. In fact, she felt slightly hurt. _'What the hell am I thinking? I've been trying to do this all along! It must be something in the food; those bitches are trying to turn me into one of them.'_

"Well _excuse_ me for trying to help your no-talent ass out!" This time, Gohan blinked. She actually wanted to help? He felt the small amount of sinister chakra quickly drain from his system.

"You...you want to help me? Why?" Tayuya again rubbed at the cursed seal on her neck, keeping her eyes low.

"I...I want to pay that bastard back for his 'gift.' Since I can't fuck him up myself, what better way than to have an indirect hand in training the fucker who knocks him off?" His eyes widened in disbelief. All this time, he thought she wanted to go back to the Sound and Orochimaru. Perhaps he wasn't the only surprising ninja in this village anymore.

"Did you accept it willingly?" She snorted and narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, but when I did, he only me two things: One, that it would exponentially increase my chakra, and two, that it only had a one in ten survival rate. He didn't mention all of the bad things that came along with it." A sudden realization came to Gohan. If Tayuya had a cursed seal like Sasuke, she could help him study his weaknesses for when it was time to bring him back!

"Bad things? Like what?" The girl looked thoughtful for a few minutes.

"Well, for one thing, Orochimaru can pretty much control us if he wants to. Through our seals, the bastard can inflict an inhumane amount of pain on our entire nervous system. He can also stop us from using it altogether." She glanced up at him, only to find that he was practically raping her personal space. "Gah! What the hell are you doing?!" He blinked and leaned back.

"What do you mean? I was just looking at your cursed seal."

"J-Just go over there so I can help you train!" She yelled, pointing at the field in front of them. Just as he was about walk away, she grabbed his arm. "Wait." He looked back at her curiously.

"What?"

"Uh...can you take me out of this chair? It's hard as fuck." She asked, a light scowl marring her face. Shrugging, he quickly scooped her up in his arms and set her down under the shade of a large tree.

"How's that?" Tayuya leaned her head back and stretched, enjoying the feel of the lush grass beneath her and the freedom to move as she wished. Well, as free as one could without mobility in their legs.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." He stared at her for a few more seconds before smirking.

"You know, you're not as ugly as usual when you're not scowling." She quickly brought her arms back down and crossed them over her chest.

"Yeah, yeah. Get into your usual stance and I'll tell you what you're doing wrong." He nodded and happily settled himself into a stance that one of the Academy instructors taught him before he became a genin. "...Is that your stance?" She asked after he stopped moving.

"Uh, yeah?" The girl smirked, then grinned, then chuckled, and before long, she was full on guffawing. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as she began to choke on her own spittle.

"W-What the hell is that? Whoever taught you that shit was TRYING to get you killed!" She screamed in mirth. Gohan's eyes dimmed as his arms slowly lowered to his sides. Her laughter immediately quieted down as she noticed a drastic change in his usual somewhat cheerful expression. "Goddamn, you act like I ripped your balls off or something. I was just kidding about the trying to get you killed part. I'm sure they just didn't know what they were doing." His eyes hardened in anger.

"No, I think they knew exactly what they were doing." Tayuya almost gasped; almost. She couldn't believe that a teacher would purposely sabotage one of their students, no matter how annoying or dim-witted he was. What amazed her even more was that his jounin-sensei or precious Iruka-sensei didn't think to at least teach him the most basic of taijutsu stances. Even if she was just using him to take out Orochimaru, she didn't want her weapon to be in low spirits all the time. It made her feel bad about her own problems. Clearing her throat, she put on her cockiest smile and pointed forcefully at her escort.

"Stop looking like the pitiful brat you are and get back into that stance! I'll tell you what to do from there." She thought she saw a spark appear in his eyes as he immediately straightened up, albeit a little less sure of himself. "First of all, your weight should be on your back leg-good. Now, turn your front foot in a bit to give your self more balance. Doesn't that feel better? You'll be able to move much more efficiently like that." He looked over his shoulder and smirked.

"Looks like I'll really have to start calling you Tayuya-sensei now, eh?" Gohan joked, testing out the new form. He had to admit that it felt much more natural than the one Mizuki taught him. Tayuya flushed slightly and scowled.

"Shut the fuck up, I ain't doing this cause I like you or anything. I just don't want you to get your ass kicked by Orochimaru. Besides, this is the most basic form there is. Now lift your back arm up near your chest- a little higher- perfect. Stretch your other arm out in front of you- not all the way out, dipshit- yeah, that's good. Now you can strike and block from pretty much any angle, and move in nearly any direction." She smirked smugly as he took a few practice punches and kicks, looking much better than he did only ten minutes ago.

"Yes! Thanks, Tayuya!" She shrugged and waved him off.

"Don't thank me yet; you haven't used it in an actual fight." He smirked and put his hands together in a familiar sign.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" A shadow clone popped into existence, much to the surprise of the former sound nin.

"Holy fuck, you never cease to amaze me." He smiled genuinely at the girl before settling himself into the new stance and sparring with his shadow clone. She couldn't keep a tiny smirk from slipping its way onto her face as she watched him. By the time she was done, Orochimaru won't know what hit him.

Both genin were oblivious to the angry pair of eyes watching their every move.


	2. Chapter 2

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Gohan.**

**Chapter 3**

Gohan sparred for a few more hours, even going as far as to create ten shadow clones to fight against. Every few minutes, Tayuya would call out tips or admonishments; most of them starting with an insult, of course. As time went on, the insults gradually turned into compliments, and she even began to hold back on the name calling. Sometime during his training, he'd shed his jacket and thrown it towards the foul mouthed redhead, causing the name calling to resume full force.

After a while, she became silent. _'I must be doing pretty good!'_ Gohan thought as he crouched down onto the ground, breathing heavily and glancing up at the night sky. The stars and moon were glowing brilliantly, a sign that it was at least after eight. He didn't realize so much time had passed since they'd left the Academy.

"Oi, Tayuya, ready to go back?" He called over his temporary teammate. When she didn't answer, he reluctantly stood and walked over to where she was reclining against the large tree. "Tayuya?" Looking closer, he realized that her eyes were closed, and her head was tilted off to the side at an awkward angle. It didn't take a genius to see that she was asleep. His discarded jacket was spread out over her torso; probably to ward off the cold. It did tend to get pretty cool in Konoha, after all. The genin stared a moment longer before reaching over to pick the girl up. What he didn't count on was her fist shooting up and punching him square in the jaw, sending him sprawling five feet into an adjacent tree. The girl blinked sleepily and yawned, rubbing at her eyes with the offending hand.

_'Huh, must've fallen asleep.'_She thought to herself, noticing it wasn't light outside anymore. She glanced at the area where Gohan had been training, only to see a battered training log and a few ninja weapons spread out on the ground. However, there was no sign of her Saiyan escort. A small pang of anger washed over the girl. _'That bastard deserted me!'_ she shrieked in her mind, already thinking of ways to cause the genin pain. That is until she heard a strangled groan coming from her left. Tayuya snapped her head around to see Gohan lying sideways against a thick oak tree,tending to a large bruise on his cheek. She blinked in surprise.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Gohan glared at her and rolled himself onto his hands and knees.

"What happened?! You punched me!" He yelled, waving his arms in an exaggerated fashion. The girl blinked again.

"I did?" She glanced down at her fist in surprise. _'Huh, good to see my reflexes haven't dulled any.'_

"Yeah! What, do you think I hit myself?"

"Damned if I know. You might be some kind of masochist."

"A maso...what?" Tayuya shook her head in exasperation.

"Holy shit, you're stupid. Just put me in my chair and get me back to the hellhole you fuckers call a hospital." Shooting her one last glare, the demi-saiyan stood up and walked over to the crippled genin. He pulled his jacket off of her first, attempting to put it on. The girl shivered and grabbed a hold of one of the sleeves. When he stared at her questioningly, she scowled and tugged on the sleeve a little harder. "It's cold as shit out here. Be a gentleman and let me use your jacket." She meant for it to be a suggestion, but it came out as more of a command.

"Will you be quiet and go back to the hospital peacefully if I do?" He asked, patting himself on the back for coming up with such a great idea. She nodded and pulled the jacket from his grip, immediately wrapping it around herself to ward off the persistent cold. After regaining a bit of her warmth from the heavy material of the bright orange Gi-shirt, Tayuya lifted an arm towards her escort.

"Hurry up, I'm freezing my ass off out here." Gohan scowled but bent down to pick her up bridal style. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and nodded after she established a firm enough grip. As he ascended to a standing position, both felt a small wave of killing intent from the forest around them.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, looking around for any sign of life. Tayuya was doing the same, immediately going into ninja mode despite her handicaps.

"I don't know, but we'd better get the fuck out of here before whatever it is decides to make itself known." Quickly setting her back into her wheelchair, Gohan formed some chakra in his feet and dashed off towards civilization while occasionally glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was following them. Even as they ran, they felt the strange presence following them, the foul aura getting stronger and stronger with each step. Before long, they reached the densely populated market district. Thankfully, the killing intent immediately disappeared, allowing the genin to slow his pace to a brisk walk.

"That, was scary." He breathed, attempting to regain his breath back after the sprint. Normally he wouldn't be so tired, but he'd just spent the better part of the afternoon training his taijutsu. The girl nodded in agreement, trying to catch her own breath despite not doing anything.

"Fuck yeah, that was like some Freddy Kreuger shit." Both genin paused for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Civilians and ninja alike wisely edged their way around the howling teens, unsure as to whether they were psychotic or not. It took well over a minute for them to calm down enough to keep moving, although they both sported equally wide grins; a fact which still managed to creep out most of the citizens they came across. As they walked deeper into the market district of Konoha, Tayuya soon became aware of the glares and frowns sent their way. A few of the people muttered words under their breath, none that she could hear over the increasingly loud chatter. She glanced up to see that her escort was still grinning, albeit it was slightly strained from her vantage point. "Oi, dobe. What's with these shitheads? I thought the bimbo didn't tell anyone where I was from." His smile slipped a bit before widening into a full foxy grin.

"Oh, they're just upset about some pranks I pulled awhile back." He lied, skillfully skipping around the truth. It wouldn't do any good for her to know about the Kyuubi. She eyed him for a few seconds before shrugging it off. It wasn't her job to cross examine the boy.

"You must've pulled some fucking good ones, 'cause they look angry enough to slit your throat in your sleep or something." Gohan made an abrupt stop, nearly throwing the girl from her wheelchair. Her statement brought back some painful memories from his childhood.

"I thought you were supposed to be quiet." He said, his voice deathly cold. Tayuya looked taken aback at his sudden change in emotion.

_'What the shit? Is he bipolar?'_ she wondered, taking note of his dejected expression. Her face soon deepened into a scowl as she turned around and face forward again. What the hell did she care? It wasn't her fault the bastard had deep seeded problems. He soon began pushing her towards the hospital, though at a much quicker pace than they'd been traveling at before. Five minutes later, they arrived at the door to room 223. Even as he lifted her frail body onto the hospital bed, they didn't speak. He stared at her prone form for a few seconds, watching how the moonlight illuminated her features as she glared out of the window to her right. Gohan walked back to the doorway in silence, opening the door with a soft click.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, much to the girl's surprise. She snapped her head around to reply, but found that he'd already disappeared down the hallway. The smallest of smirks made its way onto her face.

"Idiot."

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!" A feminine voice yelled while tossing papers into the air. "Where is it?! WHERE?!"

The fifth hokage was currently tearing her office apart, looking for her last bottle of sake. She knew she had another bottle left; she'd just restocked her secret stash yesterday! A perverted chuckle resounded in the nearly empty room.

"Lose something, Tsunade?"

The woman in question clenched her fists a few times to get rid of the stress that was steadily building up in her system. Turning to the window, she forced an angry grin onto her face.

"You wouldn't happen to know where my last bottle of sake went, would you, Jiraiya?" Jiraiya chuckled and took a swig from the bottle resting in his hand. Giving her a cheeky grin, he shook his head.

"Nope, not a clue." That was it. With a bloodcurdling scream, the godaime launched herself at her former teammate, fully intending to rip his spine from his body. The sannin deftly dodged her advances with a leering grin. "My, my, Tsunade-hime. I knew you wanted me, but this is a bit desperate; even for you." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"How the hell did you slip past all of the ANBU gaurds?" The toad hermit rolled his eyes.

"Those guys? Pfft. They don't call me a legendary sannin for nothing, you know." He said with a cocky wave of his hand. She sighed in exasperation.

"What do you want?" His expression immediately became serious, a sure sign that this was important. Dear Kami, she wished she had her sake.

"It's about Gohan." Tsunade groaned in response.

"Akatsuki?" She asked, hoping against hope that it was something smaller. Much to her chagrin, he nodded.

"Yeah. Judging from the information I received on my spy network, they're going to start moving in three years. As you know, Itachi and Kisame are quite powerful S-Ranked nukenin; I wouldn't stand a chance against both of them while trying to protect the kid at the same time." Tsunade sighed and buried her face into her hands.

"That's not it. I can tell." Even though he knew she couldn't see it, he shook his head and sighed.

"Not only are Akatsuki planning on kidnapping Gohan, but there is a rumor going around that Orochimaru's cooking up a war against Konoha right after he transfers to Sasuke's body. Iwa and Kumo are also rumored to be in on this war. They both have large grudges against Konoha, you know." Tsunade groaned loudly, desperately wishing she had even a sip of sake.

"So what is it that you want?" She asked, not moving from her position.

"I want to take Gohan on a training trip for three years. I'll teach him how to use the Kyuubi's chakra effectively, and also a few other things like tracking and battle strategy. This way, he'll be able to defend himself against Akatsuki's attacks and possibly be a defining factor in the war with Otogakure."

"No." Jiraiya nearly fell from his perch on the windowsill.

"No?! Why the hell not? Have you been listening to the things I've been telling you for the past five minutes?!" She lifted her head to glare pitifully at her teammate.

"I need him here to gather information on Orochimaru from a former sound nin." He frowned deeply in response.

"Just turn the bastard over to Ibiki! You know how good he is at interrogation! It is of the upmost importance that I teach Gohan everything he needs to know before the Akatsuki decide to move!"

"It's...it's complicated. I can't just turn her over to Ibiki, it wouldn't work." Jiraiya's eyes suddenly got a knowing twinkle.

"Her?" Realizing that she'd said too much, the godaime hung her head. He chuckled loudly and hopped down into the room.

"Dear Tsunade-hime, what have I told you about meddling?"

"Shut up."

"If it's that important to you, why don't I bring her along? You can assign a jounin to keep an eye on her while I train Gohan." She groaned for the second time that night.

"That won't work either. One, the girl can't walk. The bones in her legs are far too damaged for me to do anything about it, and nothing short of regeneration will fix them. Two, there isn't a jounin on the force who would take this job that I can afford to let go." Jiraiya frowned in thought.

"You know, now that I think about, this could really work out for the best. If Gohan is able to get the information from the girl before the three years are up, we could attack Orochimaru before he transfers to Sasuke and attacks us! By that time, Gohan will be plenty strong enough to take on Akatsuki and Sasuke. I'm a genius!" Tsunade blinked in frustration.

"Did you not just hear a word I said? The girl cannot walk. She will never walk." She said, speaking in a voice she'd use as if she were talking to a toddler. "And there isn't a jounin on the force who I can afford to let go. Must I repeat it again, baka?" The man chuckled and waved his hand.

"So her bones are practically dust. Big deal." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Tell me Tsunade, how does your Genesis Rebirth technique work?" Tsunade stared at him as if he'd grown a third head.

"You should remember, you helped me make it! By releasing the chakra stored up in my forehead seal, I can instantly heal all of my wounds and even regrow limbs and organs if I need..." At this point her eyes widened in realization. She jumped to her feet and began to pace around the office, arms flailing around in excitement. "That's it! If we can recreate the same technique on Tayuya, She'll easily be able to restore her bones to their previous state! Jiraiya, you're a genius!" He smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I know, I know, you don't have to tell me." After her initial excitement wore off, she immediately slouched back on to her desk.

"But how will it work? We don't have the time for her to build up the chakra on her own, and neither of us has enough chakra to force into the seal ourselves. Hell, we don't even know how to cancel the technique after the required healing is complete." Jiraiya grinned as if expecting this response.

"Are you forgetting who I am? Besides the number one super pervert of Konoha, I am also a master of seals. I'm much more experienced than I was when we created your technique, Tsunade-hime. Give me a week and I'll cook something up. As for the required chakra...I happen to know a certain genin who has more chakra than an entire ANBU squad." She smirked.

"You really are a genius, you know that?" The hermit flashed her one of the true smiles he reserved for those closest to him.

"I know, dear, I know. Now, you'll have to find a jounin on your own Tsunade-hime, but you can leave the seals to me." Noticing that she was lost in her own thoughts, he snuck up behind the slug sannin and quickly groped her breasts. 'Ah, still as lovely as I remember!' he sighed before slipping out of the window. It wasn't until five minutes later that the hokage realized what he had done.

"JIRAIYA!"

_'10:59. Where the fuck is he?!'_

Tayuya glanced at the clock again, sighing wearily to herself. Here she was, dressed and ready to go, and he was nearly half an hour late. Not that she was in any hurry to go on a cross village journey to the Academy with the idiot. No, she simply wanted to get out of this cold, impersonal room and out into the warm air of Konoha. Her eyes darkened slightly as she remembered the small spat they'd had last night. She was starting to believe that he wasn't even going to show, something that strangely upset her. _'I don't even know what the hell he was so angry about'_ she thought, remembering the extremely cold voice he had regarded her with. The genin sighed again and flopped back onto the bed, resigning herself to a day of lounging. Suddenly, she noticed a piece of bright orange cloth resting on the ground beside her. She stretched out to pick it up and recognized it as the same jacket Gohan had loaned to her the night before. _'Tch, the idiot forgot to take his shitty shirt with him.'_ She fingered the thick material of the coat. Glancing at the door one more time to make sure no one was coming in; Tayuya lifted the jacket to her nose and took a slight whiff. _'It smells like...ramen?'_ A sudden opening of the door surprised her out of her thoughts, and she quickly threw the garment back onto the floor. Tsunade's apprentice stepped through the door and blinked in surprise.

"Sorry, I thought you'd be gone by now." The woman glanced at the clock resting on the table to Tayuya's left. "Where's Gohan-kun? Aren't you two supposed to go to the Academy today?" Instead of answering, the girl snorted and looked away, occupying herself with watching a few bluebirds hop aroundand titter on the windowsill. Shizune smiled and moved to check the genin's medical chart. "I know you're waiting for him. You can't fool me." Again, she didn't reply. "He's strong, you know. He took on Orochimaru twice." The medic nin muttered, attempting to bait the girl into a conversation. She still had her suspicions about the former sound nin after all.

"Tch, yeah right." The older woman smirked behind the chart. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Oh, it's true. Once during the Chuunin exams, and once when he accompanied Jiraiya-sama to find the hokage." By this time, she had the genin's full attention. "Yep, he even learned one of the Fourth's legendary techniques in only a week." Okay, so she was stretching it a bit. He'd actually only learned the last step in a week, and required the use of a clone to execute it. But she didn't need to know that. Tayuya on the other hand was floored. She wasn't from Konoha, but she'd definitely heard of the Fourth Hokage. It was hard not to hear about a man who killed over a thousand Iwakagure ninja in under ten minutes. Not to mention that every now and then Orochimaru would mutter things about the Yellow Flash stealing his rightful position as the Hokage.

"You're shittin' me." Shizune shook her head.

"Nope. I also heard that he defeated Sabaku no Gaara, the demon vessel of the Shukaku." Tayuya's jaw was practically on the floor by now.

"...Are we talking about the same Gohan? Black hair, stupid face, gay ass blue shirt and orange pajamas?" Tsunade's apprentice nodded and set the chart back in its resting spot near the end of the bed. "Huh. Maybe he's not as stupid as he looks. He's still one lucky fucker to face Orochimaru twice and live."

"I assure you, luck had nothing to do with it." Before the genin could say anything else, Gohan burst through the door, breathing heavily as he tried to form a coherent sentence.

"Sorry...Late...Overslept..." He breathed between gasps. Shizune smiled fondly at her surrogate little brother. He glanced up and grinned widely at the woman. "Hey, Shizune-nee-chan!" She nodded in response and slipped out of the door to hide her growing grin. She could always come back later and find out what she needed to know about the girl.

"You'd better hurry up and get to the Academy, Gohan-kun! Your friend looks a little antsy." The medic called from over her shoulder. The demi-saiyan stared at Tayuya and lifted an inquiring eyebrow.

"Uh...ready to go?" He asked, scratching nervously at the back of his head. Tayuya scowled at him, but nodded. He quickly grabbed the wheelchair resting by the doorway and wheeled it over to his teammate's bedside. "Do you think the kids will be mad that we're late?" The boy inquired, setting her down in the chair. She shrugged slightly and picked up the orange shirt she'd discarded earlier, draping it haphazardly over her lap.

"Who gives a shit. It's not like they can do anything about it."

"Well, since you don't care, I'll make sure I tell them it's your fault."

"W-what? Oh, hell no. You're taking the fall for this one."

"I thought you didn't care?"

"I don't. I just don't like being blamed for shit I didn't do."

"Sounds like fear to me." With a well place elbow to his side, Tayuya quickly ended the argument. She frowned and pointed towards the door.

"Push."

"Yes, Tayuya-hime" he drawled sarcastically, dodging another elbow.

To say that the kindergarteners were upset would be an understatement. Every single one of the children were glaring maliciously at the teens, even causing Gohan to take an unconcious step back. The chuunin instructor shot them a look of pity before quickly performing a Shunshin out of the room.

"Bastard..." Tayuya mumbled, glaring at the spot where the chuunin had previously been standing. She was broken from her thoughts when a large book was shoved into her hand, and the same little girl from the day before hopped into her lap without a word. Not wanting to provoke the children into doing something rash (Because they were, in fact, demons in disguise) the genin immediately popped open the book and turned to where they left off. Gohan had already settled himself among the kids, although he glanced nervously at them every few seconds. Yep, the little bastards were definitely demons.

"Tayuya...uh...can you start reading?" Her escort asked, motioning towards the impatient (and murderous) looking students. She nodded and cleared her throat harshly before beginning.

"Everyone knows where we left off, right?" After receiving a stiff nod of consent from the kids, she continued. "Just as he was about to enter his home, a golden fox appeared and snarled angrily at the snake._'Let her go!'_the fox boomed, taking a large step forward. The giant white snake smiled and looked down at the fox. _'Little fox, do you think that you can defeat me in battle? Run along before I eat you too!'_" She made sure to change her voice to fit the characters, actually somewhat enjoying herself. It sure beat sitting an hospital bed all day.

The children gasped and murmered amongst themselves. If the snake ate the fox, what would happen to the princess? She took a quick surveying look around the room before continuing. "The fox was afraid, but he stood his ground. He launched himself at the snake, only to be knocked into a tree by the snake's giant head. The princess gasped in horror. _'No! Not my friend the fox!'_ She screamed, struggling against the snake's tight hold. _'Don't worry about me, save yourself!'_ But the fox only shook his head and smiled. _'As long as I have an ounce of breath left in my body, I will always protect you.'_Frowning, the snake launched himself at the wounded fox. _'I told you to not to meddle, and now you shall die!'_" Tayuya glanced up at the clock and grinned evily to herself. She snapped the book shut and set it down in her lap. "Sorry kids, it's snack time!"

Every jaw in the room dropped, including Gohan's.

"Not again!"

"Tell us what happens to fox!"

"Please?"

The red haired genin only shook her head and smiled. "Blame Gohan for getting us here late." The children's eyes drifted over to the genin sitting nervously in the middle of the classroom.

"Ah...I overslept?" He whimpered, not liking the glares he was getting.

"GET HIM!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Gohan.**

**Chapter 4**

Ten minutes and one beat down later, the genin made a quick retreat out of the Academy.

"Ow...who knew kids that small could hit that hard?" Gohan asked, rubbing at a bruise on his cheek. Thankfully, he'd managed to protect his more sensitive areas from the irate kindergarteners. Tayuya snorted.

"Serves you right for being late, bastard." He grunted in response. They walked along in silence, a fact which didn't go unnoticed by the redhead. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she glanced up at Gohan. Amazingly enough, all of his bruises and cuts had already healed from his earlier beat down._'Holy shit, no wonder he survived after facing Orochimaru!'_Her eyes traveled from his injuries to his deep, cerulean eyes. While he was certainly aware of what was going on around him, his mind was quite obviously somewhere else. She could see the faraway look in his eyes, and couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.

Gohan on the other hand was deep in thought, completely oblivious to the curious stare of the ill-tempered girl. His hands tightened around the handles of the wheelchair as he thought of his fight with Sasuke. He hadn't had much time to think about it, only briefly reflecting on his feelings before falling asleep or while training. However, Sasuke's words constantly reverberated in his head. _'You are my closest friend, Gohan...and that is why I must kill you.'_It just didn't make any sense! Why would he want to kill his closest friend? His blank gaze hardened slightly as he thought about his training. While he would try his hardest to become strong, it was hard to deny the cold hard fact that he would never be able to match Sasuke if they met again. The bastard was getting training from one the Legendary Sannin, after all. For the first time since he became a genin, Gohan felt weak.

Tayuya was getting a kick out of the emotions playing over his face. First, he looked angry, then sad, then confused, then angry again before his face finally settled on depressed. She sighed and rolled her eyes in disgust. The idiot was probably thinking about Sasuke again. An odd feeling of jealousy resounded in her heart. If there was one thing she hated in life, it was being overlooked. Orochimaru had done it plenty of times with issues regarding the Sound Five, especially when it came to Kimimarou. After he'd arrived, her leader couldn't stop talking about how great his bloodline limit was, or how easily he would crush Konoha when the time came. Hell, if the bastard hadn't fallen ill before Orochimaru could transfer into his body, she doubted the snake would have given her any decent training at all. She'd be damned if Gohan overlooked her in favor of the faggot Uchiha.

"Oi, shithead! Wake up!" A few of the older villagers stared in shock at the girl's random outburst, appalled that the new generation of ninja had such filthy mouths. Much to her chagrin, the boy made no movement to show that he'd heard her. She scowled in annoyance. How dare he ignore her? Using all of her strength, she launched an elbow straight into his unsuspecting gut.

"Ouch! What the hell, Tayuya?!" He yelled, rubbing at his stomach. She noticed with some satisfaction that the pain didn't seem to disappear as quickly as it did when their temporary students beat him up.

"If you'd stop dreaming about your gay lover, maybe I wouldn't have to elbow the shit out of you!"

"I-I'm not gay!" Gohan yelled, eyebrows furrowing in anger. Just the thought of being with Sasuke sent a disgusted shudder through his body. Tayuya was more than amused at the reaction she got from him. She made a mental note to insult his sexuality more often.

"Hey, you don't have to prove it to me. What you and the faggot Uchiha did before he turned traitor is your own damn business. Where the hell are we going, anyway?" She asked, cutting him off before he could come up with a retort. A strange smile appeared on his face, almost as if he was never thinking about the Uchiha or her insults to his manhood.

"The best place in all of Konohagakure!" He exclaimed, pumping an energetic fist into the air. The corners of her mouth involuntarily twitched upwards at his upbeat expression. Though she'd never admit it to anyone, his smile was extremely infectious.

When Gohan said he was taking her to the best place in all of Konoha, she thought he was taking her somewhere truly magical. A secluded lake, an extremely upscale restaurant, or hell, even the local park. Never in a million years would she have ever guessed a ramen stand. Her eye twitched in annoyance.

"Oji-san! Two bowls of miso!" The demi-saiyan yelled, wheeling Tayuya into the small ramen stand. He didn't notice her clenching hand or her viciously annoyed expression; not until she attempted to jab him in the balls, anyway. Luckily, he was just quick enough to take a hasty step back.

"Baka! I thought you said we were going to the best place in all of Konoha?!" She complained, slightly irked that she'd missed her target. Gohan looked dumbfounded at her question.

"But...this_is_the best place in all of Konoha! The people here are really nice, and the food is the best! Just give it a chance, I swear you won't be disappointed! Please, Tayuya?" He whimpered, using the infamous puppy dog eyes. The redhead sighed harshly and hung her head in defeat. Between his pitiful expression and large, pleading eyes, it was hard to deny the boy his ramen. She doubted that she could hate him anymore than she did right now. Wait, scratch that. There was _no possible way_ that she could hate him anymore than she did right now.

"Fine. This shit better be damn good, or so help me I'll..." She said, allowing the ominous threat to hang in the air. Gohan grinned brightly and picked her up out of the wheelchair, setting her down on an empty stool._'Well, at least it smells good.'_She thought, staring hungrily at the variety of toppings spread out behind the counter top. After a few days of eating nothing but hospital food (Otherwise known as shit), ramen was a much welcomed change. Drool slowly began to seep out of the corner of her mouth, and her stomach began constricting painfully in hunger.

"Uh, miss?" Tayuya quickly snapped out of her hunger-induced coma to see a teenage girl with brown hair staring at her in concern. She didn't look like a ninja, so she was obviously a civilian. But why the hell would a civilian be talking to her? Caught off guard, the genin said the first intelligent thing that came to her mind.

"Wha?" The civilian girl smiled brightly and lifted her notepad.

"I asked if you were ready to order."

"Oh, uh, sure. I'll have whatever the hell he's having." She said, jerking a thumb at the spikey-haired boy sitting to her left. Ayame nodded and relayed the order to her father, an old man with a seemingly gentle disposition. She could almost see why her escort liked the place. Despite its small size, the restaurant had a very cozy feel to it. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she realized Gohan was staring at her with something akin to shock. "What the fuck are you looking at?" She asked, suspicious of the awe-struck expression on his face.

"You...you don't want veggie ramen?"

"Veggie ramen? What the fuck would I want that shit for?" He continued to stare at her as if the answer was obvious.

"Well, aren't you watching your figure?"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?!" Tayuya exclaimed, causing the old man to grimace in sympathy for the poor boy. Though he seemed like a pretty good ninja, the boy clearly had no skill with the ladies. Gohan on the other hand waved his hands in front of him defensively and subconciously inched his way onto the opposite edge of the stool.

"N-no! It's just that well, Ino and Sakura-chan are always on diets, and they _always_ say that ramen's too fattening and that Sasuke-teme won't like them if they eat it and that if Sasuke-teme won't like them they'll never be happy and if they're not happy then I won't be happy cause then they'll want to beat _me_ up for making them fat and-" He rambled, hoping to avoid another beat down. Even if she was crippled, a woman scorned was still dangerous. She almost smirked at his fearful expression.

"I get the idea, dipshit. I just think it's stupid. Why the fuck would a kunoichi need to be on a diet? Shit, we jump through trees and train nearly every day of our lives."

"That's exactly what I said! But then, Sakura-chan would just hit me on top of the head for being stupid." He said, shrugging and turning to the freshly made ramen the chef had just set down in front of them.

"Itadikimasu!" Gohan exclaimed, wasting no time in grabbing his chopsticks and eating. He shuddered in pleasure as the noodles slipped down his throat. "Ohhh, that's good." His partner watched in mild horror as he slurped, sipped, and gobbled his way through the entire bowl while at the same time relaying the gory details of his latest mission to the old chef.

_'Damn, and I thought Jirobou could put it down fast. This guy puts the fatass to shame!'_ She thought, jaw nearly scraping the counter top.

"Ne, Tayuya, you should eat before your noodles get cold. They're not as good when they're all soggy and stuff." He said, already halfway through his second bowl. She was slightly amazed that he even remembered she was there. After all, it seemed as if he was in his own little ramen-filled world judging by the stupid grin plastered on his face as he ate. Deciding to take his advice, she broke her chopsticks and dug in with a quiet 'Itadikimasu.' She placed a few of the noodles into her mouth, swishing them around a bit to get a good feel for the taste. She chewed the noodles slowly and swallowed. An eager Gohan watched nervously as the girl inspected and thoroughly examined the noodles. "Well? What do you think?" He asked, trying not to look too interested.

"Hm. Pretty good." Tayuya shrugged and grabbed a larger serving, stuffing them haphazardly into her mouth. Okay, so she wasn't the most refined eater in the world.

"Really?!" The girl nodded and swallowed again.

"Yep, best damn ramen I ever had." Of course, she neglected to mention that it was her first time ever eating professionally made ramen; cup ramen didn't count. Her escort grinned widely.

"I think I can like you." He said, slurping a mouthful of noodles down his throat. The redhead sputtered noisily and choked on her ramen.

"W-what?!" Gohan turned Tayuya and gave her a wide toothy grin. A grin that looked disturbingly similar to Rock Lee's.

"I said, I think I can like you. There are no bad people among ramen lovers." The girl scowled and bopped him over the head with her good hand, sending him plowing face first into his half finished bowl of soup.

"Dobe, don't say shit like that when I'm trying to eat!" She angrily stabbed at her noodles and swallowed another large mouthful. Her escort grumbled and picked his face up out of the now empty bowl.

"Why do girls always hit me when I give them compliments?!" He whined, wiping at his face with the collar of his shirt. She grinned into her soup at his pitiful expression. Even if he was a dumbass, he was at least an amusing one. Drinking the last of her soup down, she glanced at the demi-saiyan out of the corner of her eye.

"Who's payin' for this stuff anyway?" Gohan reached into his pocket and pulled out Gama-chan.

"I am, of course!" Tayuya snorted slightly at his extremely goofy purse. Just when she thought he couldn't look any stupider, he pulls something like this.

"How can you even afford this shit? I thought you were dirt poor." He pouted and crossed his arms in front of him with a very childish expression his face.

"Hey, I'm not poor! I still have a lot of money left over from when we fought Zabuza and Haku. And then that mission where I went to beat up Gaara, when I brought back Tsunade-obaa-chan, and then when we tried to bring back Sasuke." He shrugged and motioned for another bowl of ramen. "I haven't even cashed in my other mission payments." Tayuya blinked stupidly at the boy.

"So why the fuck are you wearing clothes that make you look a goddamn kunai target?!" Gohan grinned weakly.

"I like the color orange… it's the same colors my father-"He stopped himself from speaking any further, "Never mind, that doesn't matter I just like orange, okay?"

She narrowed her eyes, but let the subject drop; for now. For some reason, that explanation didn't quite fly with her. It didn't matter to her though; eventually, she'd make him get some new clothes. Maybe if he actually looked like a ninja, she'd have more faith in his ability to beat Orochimaru.

Tch. Yeah right.

**(fifteen minutes and five bowls of ramen later; one for Tayuya, and four for Gohan)**

"Ahh, I'm stuffed!" Gohan exclaimed, patting his stomach contentedly as they walked (and rolled) down the street. Nothing made him feel better than five or so bowls of Ichiraku Ramen; not even being able to land a hit on Sasuke when he had his Sharingan activated. He faltered momentarily at the thought of his former teammate. Even when he wasn't here he managed to haunt his thoughts.

"Where the hell does it all go?" She asked in wonder. While Jirobou could _probably_ (She couldn't judge how much Gohan ate after only meal with him, after all) stuff down twice as much as her escort, for his reasonably small stature he'd eaten quite a load. The boy shrugged again, an action which was very quickly annoying the former sound nin. He'd shrugged, grinned, or completely brushed off nearly everything she'd asked for the past few days. She pushed those thoughts aside and glowered up at Gohan. "Go somewhere with water."

"Huh?" Tayuya bit back a groan, instead opting to roll her eyes.

"Fuck, you're slow. We're going to train aren't we? Find a place with some water."

"Yes, Tayuya-_hime_." He grumbled under his breath as he made a sharp left turn into the residential district.

"Stop calling me that, jackass."

"You call me way worse names!" She gave him a rather unladylike snort.

"That's because you deserve it, dumbfuck!" Her breathing had become shallow, and her face was lightly flushed with rage. Screaming at the top of your lungs does that to a person. She couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed with the demi-saiyan. There was just something so..._annoying_about him! Not even Kidomaru could piss her off to the point of screaming; well, not every day at least. She'd usually just break an arm or three to get him off of her back, but she couldn't do the same to Gohan in her current condition. Unfortunate, that.

"We're here!" Gohan yelled after what seemed like a minute later. Tayuya snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head in disbelief. Either he'd put on a major burst of speed since she'd screamed at him, or she _really_ needed to stop zoning out. Taking a quick look around, she noticed that they were standing near a small stream set well into a large cluster of trees. There was plenty of shade from the tall trees in the area, and a few large, smooth stones littered the bank of the river; perfect for a picnic or quick break between training sessions. The place looked relatively undisturbed, and she couldn't stop the curiosity that welled up inside of her. Damn her uncanny need to understand everything about the world around her. Damn it to hell.

"How the fuck did _you_ find a sweet ass place like this?" She asked, fighting to keep from sounding desperate. "And if you shrug one more time I'll rip your motherfucking spine out." Okay, so much for not sounding desperate. He frowned slightly at her words. He didn't so much mind the language as he did the threats and insults that came along with it. It was starting to remind him of Sasuke (though he'd never actually used the word "dumbfuck").

"This place? Ero-sennin brought me here when he was teaching me water walking." Tayuya bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smirking at the nickname.

"Ero-sennin?"

"Yeah. He's really strong, but he's a super pervert. Why'd you want me to find a place with water?" The girl frowned slightly in thought.

"Well, since you already know how to walk on water, the only thing I can think of right now is training on the water." Gohan cocked his head in curiosity.

"Train on the water?" Tayuya nodded and lifted her good arm into the air, a signal that she wanted to be picked up. After he walked over and picked her up out of the wheelchair, she pointed towards one of the larger flat rocks resting by the bank of the river. He (not so gently) set her down and jumped back to avoid her deadly left hook.

"Careful, idiot!" She shouted, rubbing lightly at her rear end. He crossed his arms in indignation.

"Tell me what to do." Shooting one last piercing glare at her escort, she cleared her throat and raised her chin a little higher, subconciously assuming a teaching role.

"I already did. Walk onto the water, get into the stance I showed you yesterday, and fight against a shitload of Kage Bunshin." Gohan blinked dumbly at her.

"What the hell will that do?!" Tayuya sighed loudly. Maybe if she could slip into the water and drown before he noticed, she could end her prolonged torture. She almost wished that she had chosen to go with Ibiki; at least they'd only annoy her a few hours a day.

"Are you stupid, or are you just trying to piss me the fuck off?" She asked, giving him her most even glare. When he cocked his head again, she decided that he was just stupid. They'd definitely have to work on his brainpower over the next few years. "Okay, you know that you have to expel a certain amount of chakra to stay afloat, right?" Gohan nodded. "Now, imagine expelling chakra for nearly an hour straight, while at the same time staying focused enough to fight one of your own kage bunshin _and_ trying to remember the stance I taught you yesterday." A little light bulb seemed to appear above his head.

"I get it! I can improve my chakra control while at the same time working on my taijutsu! Man, I wish someone had taught me this before!" He exclaimed, pulling off his shirt and shoes. As soon as he'd rolled his pants legs up to his knees, he hopped onto the water-and immediately sunk to the bottom. The redhead sweatdropped and shuffled closer to the edge of the rock.

"Oi, dobe! I thought you said you could walk on water!" She waited for a few seconds before speaking. "Hey, Gohan! Did all that ramen make you too heavy to float?" She yelled again. A slight feeling of worry began to make its way into her stomach. He'd been under for at least a minute by now. "Gohan! This shit ain't funny!" By now, she was right on the edge of the rock, peering down in worry at the water. If he drowned, she'd be pretty much stuck alone in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't walk, and crawling would be too dangerous considering she didn't know the area well at all. Hell, she didn't even know if she was safe here! If the Forest of Death had giant snakes, tigers, and poisonous insects, who's to say that they weren't inhabiting these woods too? Just as she was about to panic, a sudden blast of water hit her square in the face, followed by a laughing demi-saiyan.

"Hahaha! You should see your face!" Gohan shouted, rolling around on the grass next to the rock. "Oh man, I can't believe you fell for that!" While he was laughing, he didn't notice Tayuya's clenching fist, or the fact that she'd shuffled her way within a foot of him. That is, until she punched him so hard he rebounded off of an adjacent tree and fell right back into the river.

"Don't you ever._Ever._ Do that again!" She practically screamed through clenched teeth. His grin immediately disappeared as he crawled back onto the bank of the river.

"I was just playing around..." He stated, keeping a few feet away from the seething redhead. Tayuya struggled to calm down, even going as far as to dig her fingernails into the palm of her hand. His 'joke' brought back painfully alarming memories of being abandoned as a child. It wasn't until Orochimaru found her that she had finally felt a glimmer of hope for the future. He'd offered her protection, power, and best of all, an escape from her own desperate loneliness. It wasn't until he had used the cursed seal against her that she realized exactly how much she meant to her leader; absolutely nothing. After a few seconds of deep breathing, she finally managed to calm down enough to just glare coldly at him. Gohan stifled a gasp. Her eyes were the same as his own; laced with loneliness and pain. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. "Sorry."

"Just start training. It's going to get dark in a few hours." She shuffled back onto her rock and lie down, already tired of dealing with the many personalities of Son Gohan. _'Shit, guess I'm still not at full health yet.'_ The girl almost laughed out loud at the irony of her statement. The familiar sound of kage bunshins coming into existence reached her ears, signaling that the boy had finally decided to start training. She opened her eyes briefly to make sure that his form was correct, and was surprised to see that it was flawless. For a dead last idiot, he was an extremely fast learner. Perhaps she could even teach him a few jutsu when she got her right arm out of the cast. Granted, most of her jutsu were related to her flute, but she at least had a few defensive doton jutsus for back up. They would come in handy if Orochimaru decided to bust out some of the heavier katon jutsus he had in his vast collection. Tayuya watched as he ducked, weaved, dodged his shadow clones, every minute or so dispelling them one at a time. He'd started with five to warm up with, and after he easily took those down he doubled the number of clones to ten. A few minutes after, he had nearly twenty different shadow clones fighting him at once,_all of them managing to stay afloat_. Hell, most jounin couldn't even create twenty kage bunshins without suffering from chakra exhaustion, and here was a mere genin creating them by the buckets without even breaking a sweat. Despite being loud, annoying, and downright obnoxious, he truly was a remarkable kid. A small, pleasant feeling made itself known deep down in her heart-something she hadn't felt in years.

**Hope.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Gohan.**

**Chapter 5**

Every part of his body ached. He trudged home on the dark, empty streets of Konoha, occasionally stopping to give his legs a quick break. After spending a few hours training (and "accidentally" splashing Tayuya with water), Gohan wanted nothing more than to get home, take a shower, and possibly get a few _dozen_ hours of sleep. Alas, it was not to be.

"Gohan!" He almost groaned in agony as he turned around to greet the person that had called his name. Why couldn't people ignore him when he _wanted_ to be ignored? His eyes widened in near disbelief when he saw a familiar tuft of pink hair running full speed in his direction.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing out this late?" The girl panted briefly before grinning and standing up to her full height.

"Guess what?! I asked Tsunade-sama to teach me medical ninjitsu, and she agreed!" Sakura practically screamed, her green eyes bright with excitement. Gohan playfully pouted and crossed his arms across his chest.

"No fair! First Sasuke gets training from the snake bastard, and now you get training from Tsunade-obaa-chan! Everyone's getting trained by a sannin except for me!" His teammate stuck her tongue out mockingly.

"Looks like it'll be up to me to bring Sasuke back, ne Gohan? You can be my back up." The boy lifted his chin and shifted into a slightly heroic pose.

"Ha! I'll become stronger than both of you! I'm getting training from someone better!" Sakura tilted her head in confusion. She hadn't seen him hanging out with anyone except for the loudmouthed redhead. A feeling of dread settled in the bottom of her stomach.

"You don't mean that foul mouth, do you?" He shrugged his shoulders and started to walk home, motioning for her to walk with him. After the initial excitement of seeing his crush for the first time in three days wore off, he suddenly remembered exactly how tired he was. His knees threatened to give out on him at any moment, and the only thing he wanted to see was the back of his eyelids.

"Tayuya? She's not that bad. She even fixed my taijutsu stance!" Unfortunately, his teammate failed to share in his enthusiasm. The girl frowned and shook her head.

"Gohan, I don't like her. There's something...off about that girl." Gohan nervously scratched the back of his head. If she found out that Tayuya was one of the ninja who helped kidnap Sasuke, there's no telling what would happen. The entire village would be after the former sound-nin, and himself by association.

"What do you mean, Sakura-chan? She's okay once you get to know her."

"Don't you remember? She said we'd never be able to beat Orochimaru. I don't think you should hang out with someone that has such a negative attitude." The demi-saiyan resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Thankfully, she didn't even suspect that she was a former enemy ninja. "She also has a strange aura about her. Where is she from, anyway?" Of course, he spoke too soon.

"Ah...well, Kakashi-sensei found her on the outskirts of the village. Someone attacked her." He said, trying not to lie to his crush. Half the truth is better than none-Says Jiraiya, anyway. _'As long as she doesn't ask what village she's from, I should be fine.'_ With this resolve in mind, he picked up his pace a bit.

"Oh, that's horrible! What village is she from?"

_Damnit._

"Uh...oh! There's my apartment building! Later, Sakura-chan!" Before she could answer, he gathered as much chakra as he could muster (Which wasn't much) into his feet and sprinted towards the safety of his apartment, ignoring the screaming pain in his legs to avoid the questions of his teammate. Sakura stood stunned in the middle of the street. This was strange behavior, even for Gohan. He scaled the stairs with practiced ease, not stopping until he was right in front of his own door. He felt bad about abandoning his crush, but brushed the guilty feeling off and moved to unlock his door. Once inside, the boy shed his clothing and trudged the few steps to his bathroom. The apartment was very small, only containing a bed, table, small kitchen area, and a bathroom. A few potted plants were hung haphazardly in front of the window, contrasting greatly with the shabby state of his living quarters. It wasn't much, but it was home.

He turned on the faucet of his shower and breathed a heavy sigh. If he can help it, Gohan never misses a shower. To him, showers are something sacred; the blistering hot water piercing his back always relaxes him, and somehow manages to push all of his troubles behind him. It is the only time he's able to fully let his guard down, and he wouldn't trade these fifteen minutes of bliss for all the jutsu in the world.

...well, that may have been stretching it a bit, but he wouldn't trade his shower time for anything less. He turned around and leaned his back against the wall, reveling in the comfortable atmosphere of the shower stall. His mind unwillingly began to drift to the day's events, briefly recalling every move or action he'd made during his training. It didn't take long for him to remember the grief-stricken face of Tayuya when he'd pretended to drown, nor the bone-chilling glare she'd given him when he emerged. He made a mental note to never play a prank on her again. At least, ones that involved faking death. Still, he wondered why she would even care if he drowned or not. In their time together, she barely seemed to tolerate him, let alone care for his well-being. Chalking it up as another 'girl' thing, he reached for his shampoo bottle and squirted a generous amount onto his messy mop of hair. He used his nails to fiercely scrub his scalp, although he doubted his hair was very dirty. Especially since he spent the better part of the evening submerged in a river.

_'I have to do something to make it up to her.'_ he thought, quickly hopping out of the shower and slipping into his night clothes. It was a warm night, so he decided to allow his body to air dry. He dove under his sheets and attempted to quickly fall asleep. If he lie awake too long, he'd begin thinking of Sasuke. His brain would continue to replay their time together in his mind, searching for the point where he had gone wrong with his surrogate brother. As far as he could tell, Sasuke had been content working with he and Sakura-chan. Searching for lost cats, trying to find out what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask, catching a quick bowl of ramen after a mission; all of the things they enjoyed doing together as a team. He clenched his fists in anger. It was all Orochimaru's fault. That snake bastard was going to pay for taking away one of his precious people. He swore on his life, Orochimaru would die.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Tayuya grit her teeth in annoyance. After refilling her pitcher for the night, the nurse had failed to turn the water faucet all the way off. She'd had an incredibly hard time falling asleep; the only thing that calmed her mind enough to sleep was the image of her ogres beating the shit out of the neglectful old witch. Even after she'd constantly pushed the call button for nearly an hour, the elderly bitch hadn't come back to the room. The girl let loose a frustrated growl, banging her head back against the wall to block out the monotonous noise.

"Please don't do that. You just recovered from your head wound a few days ago." Tayuya snapped her head around to look into the amused eyes of the slug sannin's apprentice. Between the constant banging of her head and the dripping faucet, the genin hadn't noticed that someone entered the room.

"Off!" She screamed, her features dripping with desperation. Shizune tilted her head in confusion.

"Off?" The woman asked, lowering Tayuya's medical chart to glance at the girl.

"The faucet! It's driving me batshit!" With an understanding nod, the medical ninja quickly walked over to the sink and twisted the handle until the dripping stopped. The girl closed her eyes and sighed with relief.

"How long has this been on?" She asked, frowning slightly. It wasn't like the nurses to be so neglectful of their patients.

"All. Fucking. Night." Shizune's brows furrowed in disappointment.

"Do you know who the nurse was?" Tayuya lifted a curious eyebrow. She was certain the woman knew that she was one of the four Sound ninja who had an indirect hand in killing the Third Hokage.

"Some old bitch with wide-ass bottlecap glasses. Why?" The young woman lifted the medical chart and began scribbling away at a few things. Based on her description, it was the same nurse who'd lost her grandson in the joint attack by the Sand and Sound. Perhaps it wasn't so smart of the Hokage to let the veteran nurses know who the girl was.

"Tsunade-sama doesn't tolerate ill-treatment of patients. No matter where they're from." She said, purposely looking up at the genin. "Chances are, she'll be fired for prejudicial neglect." Tayuya smiled evilly at this statement. In the end, the last laugh would be hers. Nothing in life was better than revenge.

"Ha! Serves the bitch right." She yawned widely, not even attempting to cover her mouth. Now that the noise had stopped, she was finally able to get a few more hours of sleep. Her eyelids slowly began to droop, a fact which greatly amused Shizune. After giving the girl a quick checkup, she quietly slipped out of the room and headed towards her master's office. She was more than looking forward to the nurse's (literal) ejection from the hospital.

(Three hours later)

A small shadow crept along the halls, stealthily making its way towards the second floor of the hospital. It soon reached the door to room 223; the very same room that held the former young kunoichi from the Sound. Twisting the doorknob slowly, the figure slipped into the room and gently shut the door behind them.

_'Finally, you get what's coming to you...'_ The person thought, grinning maliciously. The grin slipped momentarily as they noticed she was asleep._'Damn, I thought she'd be up by now. Guess I have to...'_

"Gohan? What the fuck are you doing?" The demi-saiyan nearly jumped out of his skin when she spoke.

"Gah! I thought you were asleep!" She lifted an eyebrow and eased herself up into a sitting position. Eyeing him carefully, she noticed a small bag hanging from his right hand.

"Dumbass, just because I can't use my legs doesn't mean that my ninja senses have dulled any. I **was** part of Orochimaru's elite guard." Tayuya deadpanned. She narrowed her eyes a bit in curiosity as she noticed that he was snickering. "What?" Gohan pointed to his left cheek and grinned.

"You have a little something on your face." Her hand shot up to her cheek to feel a sticky wetness smeared all over the left side of her face. She realized in horror that it was her drool. Unwillingly, her face began to heat up in embarrassment and she turned around to wipe the fluid off with the hospital bedsheets. She also raked her fingers through her hair in a sad attempt at giving it some order. Her hand suddenly froze in mid-stroke.

_'What the hell am I doing?'_She wondered, quickly bringing her hand back down to her lap. For some reason, she felt humiliated that he had seen her in such a disheveled state. Her pride feeling somewhat bruised, she turned back around and practically snarled at the boy.

"Quit laughing at me, you lowlife cocksucking motherfucker!" Gohan blinked in surprise. She'd never used three insults in succession before. Something in the back of his mind told him that she was mad; perhaps it was his common sense. He held up his hands in a placating fashion.

"I wasn't laughing at _you_, it's just that you looked so funny that..." The boy paused in mid-sentence, briefly reflecting on his words. "Oh, I guess I was laughing at you." Before the girl could say a word, he held up the bag hanging from his right hand. "Wait! I brought food!" Her mouth snapped shut in surprise. He'd brought her lunch? She fought to say something, _anything_, but the words somehow managed to escape her. Instead, she settled on a questioning glare. Grinning, Gohan reached into the bag and (unsurprisingly) handed her a large plastic container of ramen. Luckily, it was still warm.

"Uh...thanks?" Tayuya mumbled, her anger temporarily forgotten. His grin widened as he pulled up a chair. He reached into the bag and handed her a pair of chopsticks.

"I didn't know what kind you'd want, so I asked oji-san to make me a Super Deluxe Gohan Special. It has almost everything in it!" The boy exclaimed. The redhead nodded and quickly broke her chopsticks. She was deathly hungry, especially since the nurse had "forgotten" to give her breakfast. Without wasting any time, she uttered a blessing and dug in. Gohan watched amazed as she voraciously inhaled the noodles, barely stopping to breathe. Every now and then, she'd stop to wipe her mouth (she had to maintain some sense of elegance after all) before returning full force to the food. Approximately two minutes later, Tayuya leaned back with a content sigh.

"Shit, that was good." She smiled and closed her eyes to relish in the warm feeling of the soup swimming around in her belly. She refused to acknowledge that the feeling could have possibly come from his act of kindness.

"Ne, Tayuya." The redhead lifted an eyelid to look at him.

"What?"

"I was wondering...about yesterday..." He muttered, looking anywhere but at her face. She opened both of her eyes and turned her head to look at him.

"What about it?"

"Nothing, just wondering if you were still mad." A grunt resounded from the back of her throat. It was hard to believe that _he_ was still worried over something that happened a day ago.

"Why do you care?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Gohan shrugged and finally lifted his head to look at her.

"Just do." Tayuya fought the urge to growl.

"No, I'm not mad. I'm still going to kick your ass, but I'm not mad." He grinned in relief. If she was still mad, she might not teach him anything else. She pushed herself back into an upright position and set the bowl down on the tray next to her. "What are you doing here anyway? It's Saturday. You don't have to take me to the Academy." The boy gave her a confused glance.

"Aren't you still going to train me?" Tayuya blinked. She honestly didn't expect him to be able to train after the brutal exercise she'd put him through the day before. The girl sighed loudly. Though she was secretly glad to be leaving the hospital, she didn't want him to know it.

"Well, if you want me to go, you have to get my shit out of those cabinets." She said, pointing towards the opposite wall. He walked over to cabinets and began to open the various doors. He soon emerged with a few folded pieces of clothing.

"This stuff?" She nodded and took the clothing from him. Gohan pulled the curtain separating the room and plopped down on the other bed. Unable to help himself, he watched her silhouette in mild awe as she quickly pulled on her pants and ninja sandals. It was quite a feat considering that she only had one available hand. A small blush crept onto his face as he watched her pull the hospital gown up and over her head. He couldn't see much, but just the thought of her baring her chest in the same room was enough to get his heart pumping a fraction of a second faster. He shook his head ferociously and growled._'What am I doing?! I'm not a pervert like ero-sennin!'_He thought, turning his entire body so as not to be tempted to look again.

A small curse floated from the other side of the curtain. While it was easy for Tayuya to slip on her pants and shoes, the long sleeved shirt required the assistance of a second person. She'd only been able to get her left arm through the sleeve, leaving the right side of her shirt hanging on her shoulder. Even worse, the bastards hadn't even given her a bra. Blushing mildly, she cleared her throat and glanced hesitantly at the curtain.

"Uh...Gohan?" She muttered, barely believing what she was about to ask him. "Can you uh, help me?" Gohan choked and nearly fell off of the bed.

"H-Huh? Why do you need _my_ help?" The girl nervously bit her lip. He was the last person she wanted to help her, but with her nurse's head on the chopping block, she doubted that there was anyone around to receive her call. With a resigned sigh, she shifted around so that her back was facing the other side of the room. She'd be damned if he got a peek at her more "valuable" assets.

"Just get the fuck over here!" Gohan grunted and pulled back the curtain. "Help me put my arm through the sleeve. And be careful!" He nodded (although she couldn't see it) and hesitantly reached for her injured arm. Though he tried not to, he couldn't help but stare at the rich, ivory skin of her back. As he loosely grasped her arm, he briefly registered that it was his first time actually touching a female's skin; Getting punched in the face by Sakura didn't count. His thumb gently slid over the smooth surface of her arm.

"Soft..." Gohan whispered unknowingly, eyes wide with interest. Tayuya tensed in mortification, feeling her blush deepen and spread across her cheeks. He was only the second male to compliment her on her physical appearance; not counting Sakon's offhand comments about how disgustingly graceful she looked while sparring.

"W-What d-did you just say?" She stuttered, cursing her tongue for its impudence. Gohan blushed and quickly slipped her arm into the sleeve of the dark blue shirt.

"Nothing! Ready to go?" He asked, abruptly turning to grab the collapsible wheelchair from the corner of the room. His cheeks burned red with embarrassment at his unintentional confession. On the other side of the room, Tayuya wasn't faring any better. As it usually did, her bashfulness was soon replaced by anger. How dare he try to cop a feel when her guard was down? When he reached down to pick her up, she launched a (not so) fierce blow into his gut. "Oomf! What was that for?!"

"For tryin' to feel me up!" She screamed, more angry at herself for holding back on the punch. Her conscience was really starting to become a problem.

"I wasn't trying to feel you up! _You're_ the one who asked for _my_ help!" He retorted. She huffed and lifted her arm to be picked up, a silent acknowledgment that he'd won. For a dumbass, he sure knew how to make a good point. Even someone as argumentative as she couldn't come up with a plausible enough comeback. He reached down again to pick her up (Though warily) and set her down in the flimsy wheelchair. "Where are we going today?" Gohan asked as he wheeled her out of the room. She shrugged and leaned back in the chair.

"Who gives a fuck. I can't teach you anything else in this state anyway." The chair slid to an abrupt stop, nearly throwing her headfirst to the ground.

"What?! There has to be something you can teach me!" He yelled, eyes wide with desperation. If this was as far as she could take him, Sasuke was going to wipe the floor with his ass.

"Well, there is something...but, I don't think you'll be able to handle it."

"Tell me! I can do it!" Tayuya smirked.

_'He's so easy to manipulate! Hell, I bet I could get the bastard to strip if I wanted him to!'_She thought, her smirk growing a bit lecherous. She quickly dismissed that train of thought before it went places she didn't want to go. It's not like he had anything to show off anyway. "Alright, I'll tell you. But only on two conditions. One, you can't complain even once about the training." He snorted with amusement. As if he would complain about training. "And two, you're not allowed to quit. That means no taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu until you've completely mastered this exercise. Got it?"

"That's it? This'll be-" He suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence. Something didn't add up. If he wasn't going to be doing taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu, then what else was there to learn? He narrowed his eyes slightly in thought. Though he certainly wasn't a genius, he wasn't nearly as stupid as he led others to believe. Even he could smell a trap a mile away. "Wait a minute! This training must be something I won't like if you gave me those conditions." Tayuya's jaw nearly dropped into her lap. Since when did the dobe grow a brain? She quickly regrouped and attacked from another angle.

"Who gives a fuck? Either accept my conditions, or I don't train you." Gohan grimaced. While he had identified the trap, there was no clear way out of it. With a resigned sigh, he began pushing her towards the hospital elevator.

"Fine, you win." She smiled in triumph. At least that evened the score.

"Ne, Tayuya, what are you going to teach me?" Gohan and Tayuya were currently resting on one of the large, flat rocks sitting near the river. They hadn't moved since they had arrived; which was around fifteen minutes ago.

"Have you ever heard of Leaf Concentration?" She asked, resting her head on the rock. Her escort's jacket was propped up behind her head as a makeshift pillow. She still hadn't given him his jacket back, and decided that she would keep it until he asked for it. It's not like he didn't have others at home. Gohan gave her a confused look.

"Leaf Concentration? How does that work?" She grinned and reached onto the grass for a leaf. After finding one, she motioned for him to come closer.

"I'm surprised you've never done it. Orochimaru told us that it was taught in the Academy." She sat up and placed the leaf on her forehead. "The object of this exercise is to keep the leaf from falling off of your forehead. In order to do this, you must concentrate all of your chakra onto the leaf." The boy frowned deeply.

"Wait, you're teaching me that?! Iruka-sensei tried to teach me that when I was in the Academy! It's boring!"

"Did you ever learn how to do it?"

"Uh...no..." He mumbled, hanging his head in shame. Tayuya laughed.

"That explains why your chakra control is so shitty. You'll never beat Orochimaru if you can't use your chakra effectively." He snorted and crossed his arms.

"How does this help my chakra control?" She knocked him over the head with her cast.

"I was getting to that part, dumbass!" She cleared her throat and assumed the teacher role once again. "This exercise actually trains concentration. By concentrating all of your energy on the leaf, your mind is able to focus much more efficiently, thus improving your chakra control. Do you get it?" He nodded and plucked the leaf off of her forehead.

"It's kind of like when I was learning the Rasengan from Ero-sennin. When I drew a leaf onto my hand, I was able to pop the ball much easier than I did before." She blinked in confusion.

"Uh, sure, whatever. Just get to work." He stuck his tongue out but placed the leaf on his forehead anyway; only to have it slip off a moment later. He placed the leaf on his forehead again, achieving the same results. After twenty five or so failures, Tayuya sighed and slammed her head into her hand. "It's obvious that we're not getting anywhere. Look, try this. Cross your legs and close your eyes. Remember, this is an exercise in concentration. Block out everything except the leaf."

"This is too hard!" He whined, sticking his lip out in a pout. She bopped him over the head again.

"Remember the conditions? If you don't do this, I won't teach you anything else. Sasuke will fuck you up and make you his bitch without my help." Gohan grit his teeth in anger. Though he hated to admit it, she was right. There was no way he could get strong enough on his own, and she knew a lot about Orochimaru's training methods; the same methods he would be using to teach Sasuke. He sighed and did as she said, much to her amusement. _'Two for me, one for you.'_Amazingly enough, he was able to hold the leaf on his forehead for three seconds before it finally floated down into his lap.

"I did it!" He screamed in triumph. She frowned and knocked him over the head again.

"Idiot, you have to hold the leaf on your forehead for at least an hour before we can move on."

"Nani?! That long?! But that'll take forever!" She shrugged and motioned towards her legs.

"I'm not going anywhere. The longer it takes you to master this exercise, the easier it will be for Sasuke to kick your ass. Now get back to work!" He mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'slavedriving bitch' before placing the leaf on his forehead and closing his eyes. Tayuya watched in mild awe as his time increase from a few seconds to a few minutes in only half an hour. When Orochimaru taught her this exercise, it took her the whole day to hold the leaf for ten minutes, yet he was going to beat her time in only an hour! Of course, she was much more impatient and fiery than Gohan was when _she_ learned this exercise, but it was amazing progress nonetheless. With his eyes closed, she figured it was safe enough to finally examine his features in detail. The first thing she examined was his unruly, gravity defying onyx hair. She briefly wondered if Gohan was somewhat connected to the Uchihas but quickly waved it off. Instead of pondering his origins, she decided to ask him about it later and move on before he opened his eyes again to complain.

Her eyes slowly traveled down to his waist. She had never seen someone with a tail, or heard of someone with a monkey tail at all for that matter. Maybe he his clan were specialized in monkey/ape techniques. She snickered quietly at the thought and decided to finish looking at the rest of his features before she distracted him with her giggles. Tayuya leaned back again to take in his whole face.

Her eyes traveled up and studied his face; she took in his warm, innocent charcoal eyes, his strong, defined features, his prominent chin and cute-button nose. He was certainly handsome… She blushed at her thoughts. Her imagination could certainly be strange when it wanted to be. Just as she was about to finish her assessment of his appearance, Gohan's body suddenly slumped over, causing the leaf to float harmlessly to the rock below them. _'What the fuck?'_ There had been no visible indication that he was about to fall asleep, or she surely would have smacked him awake before he did.

"Gohan! Hey, shithead, wake up!" She yelled, smacking him a few times on the head. When he didn't move, a small inkling of concern wormed its way into the bottom of her heart. "This had better not be another joke, Gohan! Wake up! Hey!" She stretched her arm out and splashed a little water into his face, hoping to at least get a small reaction from the demi-saiyan. "This isn't fucking funny anymore! Wake-"

"Maybe you should let him sleep for a while. He looks pretty tired, don't you think?" Tayuya snapped her around to the tree behind them.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" She yelled, reaching for Gohan's weapon pouch. She grabbed a kunai and held it in front of herself and Gohan defensively. Her eyes widened when a ninja sauntered out of the trees, a wide grin nearly splitting their face in half. "You!" The ninja chuckled softly and brought a kunai of their own out, spinning it nonchalantly by the ring.

"My, my. What will you do now, Tayuya?"

**Melody of the Fox**

**A/N: Whoa! Over 100 reviews! Thanks! They really keep me motivated! As a**_**tiny**_**side note, I'm extremely frustrated with this story. It doesn't have the effect I've been trying to achieve ever since I started writing seriously (About a year ago). I'm**_**not**_**abandoning this story at all; just going to try some new things. Maybe write a few oneshots to test out different writing styles.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Gohan.**

**Chapter 6**

"Misumi," Tayuya snarled through clenched teeth. Out of all the ninja in the Sound village, he was the one she least wanted to see. Orochimaru had sent him, along with Kabuto and Yoroi, to infiltrate the Chuunin Exams and study all of the genin to find potential warriors for the growing village of the Sound. Only Kabuto had returned, so she'd long since perceived them as dead.

The Sound nin pulled down his face mask and grinned. He was wearing simple black ninja pants, a black long sleeved shirt, and a black Sound chuunin vest. "I'm pleased to hear that you remember me, Tayuya-chan," he said, readjusting his glasses. She felt her lip curl at his jeering use of the -chan suffix.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Orochimaru wouldn't send someone as pathetic as you to finish me off." He laughed and hopped down from the tree, continuing to spin the kunai on his ring finger.

"Still as lively as ever, I see. Actually, Orochimaru-sama didn't assign me this mission. I requested it." She narrowed her eyes and inched closer to Gohan.

"He still wouldn't send your feeble ass alone to kill a former member of the Sound Five."

"You're right; Despite my protests, he insisted that I bring Yoroi along with me." Tayuya cursed audibly, her eyes darting around in every direction. There was no possible way that she could defend against two ninja in her current state. Hell, she barely stood a chance with just one. As if sensing her distress, the Sound nin waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, Tayuya-chan. After seeing your current injuries, I sent Yoroi on ahead to report our success to Orochimaru-sama." Satisfied for the moment, she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Gohan.

"What the hell did you do to him?" She growled, making sure to keep the contortionist in her sight. He chuckled loudly at her question.

"Genjutsu. According to Kabuto, the boy has little to no talent for it. It was easy to place him under a low-level sleeping illusion." She winced slightly at his words.

_'If we get out of this alive, I'm going to spend a whole fucking month teaching him genjutsu,'_ She thought, quickly forming a seal to cancel the genjutsu. Before she could tap Gohan on the shoulder to wake him up, Misumi appeared behind them and picked the demi-saiyan up by his shirt.

"Tsk, tsk. Have you really fallen so far as to rely on an idiot like this?" He asked, grinning down at her mockingly. "Tell me, what is he to you?" She narrowed her eyes and scoffed. Thinking quickly, she concluded that it would be best for both of them if Gohan was able to live. Even if she died, he could at least fulfill her dream along with his own.

"He doesn't mean shit to me. I was simply using the fool to help me escape. Nothing more, nothing less." He stopped twirling the kunai and smiled.

"That's a relief, I thought you had finally gotten over me. You still love me, don't you, Tayuya-chan?" She grit her teeth in anger, greatly resenting his cutting remarks. Though she hated to admit, Tayuya had been quite smitten with the jounin. Granted, she was only nine at the time while he was practically an adult. The others had always teased her for her infatuation with the man, often calling her things like 'Reverse Pedophile' and 'Grave Robber.' It wasn't until he had ridiculed her for her ability to play the flute that she realized exactly how fucking stupid her admiration of him was. It was also the day when she resolved to squash all of her weaker emotions in favor of power.

"Fuck you." He shook his head in mock exasperation.

"You haven't changed a bit, Tayuya-chan." He glanced up at the sun before returning his attention to the girl in front of him. "While I'd love to catch up on old times, I really must be going. Yoroi's probably worried sick by now." With a sickeningly sweet grin, he stabbed the kunai into Gohan's heart and tossed him into the stream. Tayuya's hand went limp, causing the kunai to clatter harmlessly on the rock below her. She watched helplessly as blood-_his_blood-turned the small stream a shallow shade of red.

"GOHAN!" She screamed, her eyes involuntarily tearing up. For the third time in her life, she felt all of her hopes shatter into a million pieces. All her plans of killing Orochimaru and parading his head around on a stick were sinking to the bottom of the stream along with her partner. She curled her hand into a fist and snatched the kunai up off the rock "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" With an angry swipe, she cut a large gash into the Sound-nin's thigh. He grimaced slightly and jumped back far enough to avoid any further attacks from the irate redhead. After making sure the wound wasn't too deep, he angrily stomped forward and picked the girl up by her throat. The condescending glint in his eyes was replaced by unbridled rage.

"That wasn't wise, Tayuya," he snarled, tightening his grip on her neck. She tried to stab at him again, but he viciously backhanded her hard across the face. The kunai slipped from her fingertips as her head snapped back from the blow. "I _was_ going to kill you fast, bitch, but now I'm going to make you suffer." He knelt down next to the stream and plunged her head under the water. Tayuya didn't bother struggling; as far as she was concerned, she was already dead. Not only were her legs fucked up, but all of her hopes and ambitions for the future had died along with Gohan. Worst of all, he had died because of _her_. As the edges of her vision began to darken, she smiled and closed her eyes with deep remorse.

_'I'm sorry, Gohan.'_

"Gah...what the hell happened?" Gohan sat up and groggily opened his eyes. It took a few seconds for them to focus, but it took half that time to realize exactly where he was. He immediately recognized the dank, sooty walls and the dark, murky waters that made up the sewers of his mind. However, The broken pipes were dripping a little faster than they were before, and he noticed with some alarm that the area around him was slowly darkening. The only consistent light was the familiar red glow resonating from the Kyuubi's cage around the corner. He briefly weighed his options, and decided that visiting the Kyuubi was a much better idea than waiting to see what happens next. Sighing loudly, he reluctantly dragged his feet towards his prisoner. After what seemed like hours of walking, he finally stood before the giant golden gates that held the nine tailed fox.

"Oi! Baka-kitsune! What's going on?" He yelled, trying to see into the dark recesses of the cage. He was slightly worried that the nine tailed fox had somehow managed to escape, and was currently on another rampage through Konoha while he was trapped inside of his own mind. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared from behind the bars, putting his worries to rest.

**"We're dying, brat."** Gohan blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting a direct answer from the fox, and he certainly wasn't expecting to hear that he was going to die.

"Nani?! What do you mean we're dying?! What the hell did you do?!" The Kyuubi growled lowly at the boy. It was just like a human to blame someone else for their mistakes.

**"I didn't do anything. It's because of your own clumsy negligence that you were stabbed through the heart by the enemy."** By now, Gohan was frantically pulling at his hair. Death itself didn't scare him; it was the thought of the people he would be leaving behind that worried him.

"Shit! I can't die here! I have to bring Sasuke back! I have to marry Sakura-chan! I have to become the Hokage!" He suddenly stopped in front of the cage and glared up at his prisoner. "You're supposed to be the _almighty_ Kyuubi, right? Do something!" What looked like a scowl appeared on the demon's face.

**"You've got a lot of guts to talk to the strongest of the Great Demons like that, brat."** It narrowed its eyes in thought. Perhaps this situation could somehow work out in his favor. **"Look, kid, we have to act fast. This seal prevents me from releasing enough of my chakra into your system to heal you. If you release the seal right now, it will be easy for me to rebuild your heart."**Gohan felt himself sweatdrop.

"I'm not _that_stupid." The Kyuubi made a movement that looked suspiciously like a shrug. Deciding to take what he could get, the demon fox attacked from another angle.

**"Fine. How about a deal?"**Gohan's ears perked up at this proposition.

"A deal? What kind of deal?" He asked, glaring skeptically at the beast.

**"I want more power."** Before the genin could speak, the Kyuubi quickly continued. **"But it's not what you think. As you can probably imagine, it gets fairly boring in here after awhile."**

"So what is it that you want? Hurry it up, baka-kitsune!" The monster growled with considerable annoyance. If all humans were this annoying, he might honestly reconsider the offer he was about to make.

**"Silence, mortal!"** He roared, effectively shutting the boy up. **"What I want is freedom. I want to see, smell, hear, taste, and feel everything that you do. I also want to be able to communicate with you, so that I can prevent any more of the foolish predicaments you tend to get yourself into. In return, I'll tell you how to access more of my chakra and rebuild your pathetic human heart."** Gohan frowned in thought, trying to figure out what the bastard fox was up to. He was just about to agree when he suddenly remembered Gaara's situation, and how the Shukaku would constantly taunt and torment the jinchuuriki in his mind. There was no way in hell he would let the Kyuubi drive _him_ crazy. The mischievous grin that suddenly appeared on his face made the Kyuubi slightly nervous.

"Fine, I accept your deal on one condition; I'm allowed to silence your voice whenever I want to." An angry growl resounded from the other side of the bars, confirming the fact that he'd exposed the demon's plan. It was obvious that the beast didn't have time to come up with another angle, as the light in the room was slowly beginning to diminish. He smiled cheekily and clasped his hands behind his head. "Well?"

**"Fine!"** The beast roared, deciding to cut his losses and try again at a later time. Red chakra slowly began to seep out of the cage, bubbling up against Gohan's feet. Soon, the chakra hardened and grew, propelling him upwards towards the seal.

"Nani?! I already told you that I'm not removing the seal!" The beast sighed and shook his head.

**"Idiot. You have to weaken the seal in order to receive more of my chakra. Hurry up, I can feel your body weakening!"** Nodding to himself, the genin reached a trembling hand towards the seal. Very carefully, he made a miniscule tear on the corner of the small piece of paper. The effect was immediate. A torrent of chakra shot towards the opposite wall, drowning the entire room in a malevolent sea of energy. Gohan found it incredibly hard to breathe, let alone move in the fluctuating surge of raw power. The Kyuubi roared with laughter at his jailor's shocked expression.

"What...what was _that_?!"

**"That,"** He started, grinning with conceited pride, **"Was approximately one hundredth of my power, brat."** The demi-saiyan's jaw scraped the ground. He knew that the demon was powerful, but this was fucking ridiculous! He suddenly had ten times more respect for the Fourth Hokage's strength; it couldn't have been easy to defeat a monster with such an insane amount of chakra. **"...get going, and let me have some fun!"** Gohan blinked, realizing that he'd completely missed whatever his prisoner had to say.

"Uh...yeah. Sure."

**"...You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"** The Kyuubi deadpanned. If he wasn't so disoriented, the boy would've laughed at the annoyed expression on the demon's face. A sigh escaped the beast, and with a swing of his paw, another wave of chakra shot Gohan out of the room and into the blinding light that made up his conscious.

Tsurugi Misumi was having a wonderful day. Except for the shallow gash he had received from Tayuya, everything was going perfectly. His target was basically a one-armed vegetable, and as an added bonus, he had just killed the boy that Orochimaru had been bitching about for the past two months. He smiled and readjusted his glasses with his free hand. Orochimaru was sure to promote him to jounin for such an exceedingly successful mission. Absolutely nothing could ruin his day; not even a large, glowing red claw protruding from the stream and heading straight for his face.

..._Shit_.

Before he could blink the claw slashed him vertically across the face, sending both he and Tayuya sprawling across the ground. "What the hell?!" He yelled, bewilderment clear in his voice. Tayuya, who had landed a few yards away from the chuunin, immediately began gasping for air. She didn't know what the fuck had happened, but she wasn't about to complain. After she regained a bit of her breath, she too began to look around the small tree-covered field for her savior. What she saw next astounded her. Gohan, who had just been stabbed through the heart by Misumi, was slowly rising out of the stream. A vicious swirl of red chakra surrounded him, turning the gentle water around him into steam.

"Gohan?" She asked, her voice wavering with fear and disbelief. A gasp escaped her when he turned his blood red eyes upon her trembling form. His pants were ripped off at the knees, and for the first time she noticed the spiraling seal on his stomach. The thin whisker marks of his cheeks now looked like abysmal scars, and his sharp pointy teeth were bared in her direction. If he didn't look so abominably scary at that moment, she might even say that he looked hot. Kami, she had some weird fetishes.

**"Tayuya, Are you alright?"** He asked, taking a concerned step towards her. As if moving on its own accord, her body quickly shuffled further into the forest, trying desperately to get away from rancorous looking boy. His voice was different; almost animalistic in tone. Immense pain flashed through his eyes at her actions. It was the same look the villagers gave him every day of his life, but it hurt ten times more when it was someone he actually cared about. Instead of taking another step towards Tayuya, he turned ferocious eyes upon the screaming man to his right. The Sound nin was viciously clawing at his face, desperately trying to put out the chakra induced flames caused by Gohan's initial blow. Gohan sauntered over to the fallen ninja with a furious smirk on his face. He was going to enjoy this. **"Does it hurt?"**He sneered, stopping in front of the man. He launched a powerful kick into the shinobi's gut, sending him back first into a tree. An audible crack was heard on contact.

"Stay back, demon!" Misumi gasped between breaths. The Kyuubi empowered genin laughed bitterly.

**"Is that how you beg for your life?"** Gohan grabbed his head and slammed it face first into the ground. **"Is it?!"** The man lifted his head and glared pitifully at Gohan.

"I'd never beg before a _demon_." The boy snarled and lifted him into the air by his neck.

**"Wrong answer."** He thrust a clawed hand through the Sound nin's chest, instantly killing him. He stood there for a few minutes in that position, feeling Kyuubi's chakra slowly begin to drain from his system. His hand was still sticking out of Misumi's back, and blood ran in torrents down his forearm. It briefly registered in the back of his mind that it was his first kill; However, he was more concerned with the shivering girl staring at him with wide, fearful eyes. With a forceful pull, he wrenched his arm from the man's chest. The wet squelching sound seemed to snap her out of her daze as she suddenly seemed to notice the gaping hole in her former comrade's ribcage. He threw the body as far as he could towards the stream.

"What...what are you?" She asked with fearful trepidation. Despite witnessing (And being the cause of) the death of over a hundred people in her lifetime, none had ever been as gruesome as this one. She unconsciously burrowed herself further into the tree behind her as he began to walk in her direction.

"Tayuya...please, I-" Before he could finish his sentence, his legs suddenly gave out on him, causing him to crumble into a heap on the ground.

"Gohan!" Tayuya screamed, immediately concerned about the demi-saiyan despite her fear. It took her a few minutes to stop her body from trembling, but she eventually managed to ease herself onto her stomach. Using her left arm, she slowly crawled her way towards Gohan. Her body seemed to be fighting against her every move, and it was through sheer willpower alone that she was able to reach him after what seemed like hours of crawling. She slid her body around so that she was leaning over the boy's head. It took her a few more minutes to get her nerve together, yet she somehow worked up enough to courage to reach a shaky hand towards his neck. She quickly checked for a pulse and let loose a small sigh of relief when it throbbed powerfully against her fingertips. At least he was alive. She gently lifted his head and shuffled herself under him, allowing him to rest against her lap. Her body still quivered a bit with fear, but she ignored her anxiety in favor of the boy sleeping deeply between her legs. She pushed a few loose strands away from his eyes and smiled. "Thank you."

The Godaime Hokage sped through the rooftops at an alarmingly fast pace. Nearly every ninja above the level of chuunin had felt the evil chakra, and were now heading towards the outskirts of the village.

"Tsunade-sama!" An ANBU Captain suddenly appeared to her left, his squad following closely behind him. His face was hidden by a mask, but his fear was evident in his movements.

"What is it?" She noticed he seemed to hesitate before he spoke. It was obvious that it was something she didn't want to hear.

"Tsunade-sama, the other captains and I feel as though it is in your best interest to return to your office. Please allow us to handle this."

"No." The Captain groaned from behind his mask. It was common knowledge to anyone who'd seen Gohan and the Hokage together that she had a major soft spot for the boy. There had even been rumors that she'd given him the First Hokage's necklace. Despite the obstacles, he was determined to make her see reason.

"Tsunade-sama, please try to understand, the boy could be dangerou-" Without breaking her stride, Tsunade threw a lightning fast fist into the ANBU Captain's face, breaking his mask and sending him spiraling towards the ground. The other members of his squad wisely slowed down enough to get out of striking range of the Slug Sannin.

"Temper, Tsunade," A voice chuckled. She snarled and threw another angry fist to her right. Jiraiya barely managed to duck under the blow. "Relax, I'm not trying to stop you!" He exclaimed, placing his hands into the air as a sign of peace. "On the contrary; I'm just here to help. He _is_ my student, you know." The woman's glare softened.

"Do you think he's alright?" She asked, using chakra to gain a little extra speed. Jiraiya smirked confidently at his former teammate and matched her pace.

"I know he is." Seemingly satisfied with his answer, she turned forward and put all of her energy into reaching Gohan as fast as she could.

When they arrived in the clearing, the sight that met them was devastating. It wasn't the abnormally large craters or ruptured trees that surprised them; no, it was the copious amounts of blood and the mutilated body lying near the stream that sent a small sickening wave through their bodies. The Hokage slowly made her way towards the corpse, Jiraiya and a few ANBU squads close behind. She turned the body over and let loose a small sigh of relief. Judging by his headband, the man was from the Sound. She was immensely thankful that it wasn't one of their own shinobi, as that would've put her in an extremely difficult position. Except for the gaping hole in his chest and five large gashes across his face, there weren't many other injuries on the corpse.

"Tsunade-sama! We've found him!" Immediately forgetting about the corpse, she ran over to the ANBU officer's position.

"Where is he?!" The woman's eyes scanned the clearing until they landed on Tayuya. The girl had her back to them, but a small bit of onyx hair was peeking out from her lap. Fearing the worst, Tsunade rushed over to the genin. As she arrived, Tayuya slowly turned her head from Gohan to look up at Tsunade. Her face was eerily void of any emotion, but the woman noticed with some concern that she was trembling. She knelt down in front of Tayuya and placed a gentle hand against Gohan's jugular. "He's alright," she said, letting loose the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She moved to pick the boy up, but the redhead only tightened her grip on his head, glaring weakly at the woman.

"We need to get them to the hospital," Jiraiya said, appearing behind her. His teammate nodded her head in agreement and began performing seals. The girl showed no signs of releasing the boy anytime soon.

"I'll have to knock her out. She's having a mild combat stress reaction, otherwise known as shell shock. It's probably her first time experiencing something as malevolent as Kyuubi's chakra. Right now, Gohan is the only thing she is familiar with and is acting as her security blanket. Moving him could worsen the condition." Her hands began to glow a mild green, and she placed her palm onto the girl's forehead. Tayuya's grip on the demi-saiyan immediately loosened as she fell forward into Tsunade's arms. She picked the girl up and motioned for Jiraiya to do the same with Gohan, causing him to raise an amused eyebrow.

"I thought you'd want to carry Gohan yourself," he chuckled, slinging the boy over a shoulder. "Don't tell me you've become attached to the girl already." The woman scowled and motioned one of the ANBU officers over.

"Clean this place up. I want absolutely no evidence of what happened here to get out to the public. Do you understand?" The female officer bowed her head in confirmation. Even she understood what would happen if the villagers found out about the genin using Kyuubi's chakra. The chaos would be insurmountable.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Tsunade nodded and turned towards her former teammate, whom she noticed had adjusted the boy into a much more careful and comfortable position when she wasn't looking. Smirking slightly, she nodded in the direction of Konoha.

"Let's go."


End file.
